Title

Author(s)

Exploring which motivational strategies best support and

enhance language learning in a CMI Hong Kong primary school

Advani, Prakash Nenumal.

Citation

Issued Date

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Rights

2011

http://hdl.handle.net/10722/177231

The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights)

and the right to use in future works.

Exploring which Motivational Strategies best support and enhance

Language Learning in a CMI Hong Kong Primary School

Prakash Nenumal ADVANI

Student Number 2009875680

A dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements of

the Degree of Master of Education
at The University of Hong Kong

August 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION .............................................................................................................. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. v
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... - 1 -
1.1
Introduction.................................................................................................... - 1 -
1.2. The Action Research Project.......................................................................... - 1 -
1.2.1 The Case Study .......................................................................................... - 2 -
1.2.2. The Action Research Cycles ...................................................................... - 2 -
1.3
Research Questions ........................................................................................ - 3 -
1.3.1. Key Action Research Questions ................................................................. - 3 -
1.3.2. Aims of the Study....................................................................................... - 3 -
1.4
Overview of the Dissertation ......................................................................... - 3 -
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................... - 5 -
2.1
Motivation...................................................................................................... - 5 -
2.1.1 Motivation by way of Success Criteria ...................................................... - 6 -
2.1.2. Other Categories of Motivation ................................................................. - 7 -
2.2
Theories of Motivation and Learning ............................................................ - 7 -
2.2.1 Vygotskian Theories ................................................................................... - 7 -
2.2.2. Dornyeis Theories of Motivation .............................................................. - 9 -
2.2.3. Amotivation...............................................................................................- 11 -
2.2.4. Krashens Theory of Second-Language Acquisition ................................ - 12 -
2.2.5. Sullivans Three Roles of Language as Motivation Theories .................. - 13 -
2.3
Previous Research on Motivation ................................................................ - 13 -
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY............................................................... - 15 -
3.1
Research Approach: Action Research Case Study ....................................... - 15 -
3.1.1. Rationale for Action Research ................................................................. - 17 -
3.1.2. Rationale for a Case Study ....................................................................... - 19 -
3.2
Research Participants ................................................................................... - 20 -
3.3
Data Collected for the Study........................................................................ - 22 -
3.3.1. The Operationalization of the Study ........................................................ - 22 -
3.3.2. Instrumentation and Piloting .................................................................... - 22 -
3.3.3. Questionnaires .......................................................................................... - 22 -
3.3.4. Interviews ................................................................................................. - 23 -
3.3.5. Observations............................................................................................. - 24 -
3.3.6. Time Frames and Sequence...................................................................... - 25 -
3.3.7. Constraints on the Research ..................................................................... - 25 -
3.3.8. Ethical Issues and Ownership of the Research......................................... - 25 -
3.3.9. Validity and Reliability ............................................................................ - 27 -
3.4
Methods of Analysis .................................................................................... - 28 -
3.4.1 Interview Questions ................................................................................. - 28 -
3.4.2 Tools of Data Analysis ............................................................................. - 30 -
3.4.3 Content Analysis ...................................................................................... - 31 -

CHAPTER FOUR ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ................................................. - 33 -

4.1
Introduction.................................................................................................. - 33 -
4.2. The Case Study ............................................................................................ - 33 -
4.2.1. Kylies Understanding of Motivation (The First Interview) .................... - 33 -
4.2.2. Katrina's Understanding of Motivation (The Second Interview) ............. - 34 -
4.2.3. Steven's Understanding of Motivation (The Third Interview) ................. - 36 -
4.2.4. Liams Understanding of Motivation (The Fourth Interview) ................. - 37 -
4.2.5. Kateys Understanding of Motivation (The Fifth Interview) ................... - 38 -
4.2.6. Maxwells Understanding of Motivation (The Sixth Interview) .............. - 39 -
4.2.7. Claras understanding of motivation (the seventh interview) .................. - 40 -
4.2.8. Marias Understanding of Motivation (The Eighth Interview) ................ - 41 -
4.3
Conclusion: Key Findings from the 8 Case Studies .................................... - 42 -
4.3.1. Motivating Elements mentioned by All Participants................................ - 42 -
4.3.2. Other Motivating Forces in the Classroom .............................................. - 43 -
4.3.3. Demotivating Elements ............................................................................ - 44 -
4.3.4. Summary of Findings ............................................................................... - 44 -
CHAPTER FIVE IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION................................. - 46 -
5.1. Limitations of the Research ......................................................................... - 46 -
5.2. Implications for Future Practice .................................................................. - 47 -
5.2.1. Motivational Strategies that Best Support, Improve and Enhance Learning ... 47 -
5.2.2. Suggested Scaffolding .............................................................................. - 48 -
5.2.3. Restructuring and Redesigning Language Output ................................... - 48 -
5.2.4. In the Context of CMI Schools ................................................................ - 49 -
5.3. Suggestions and Recommendations for Other Researchers......................... - 49 -
5.4. Reflections ................................................................................................... - 50 -
5.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................... - 51 -
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... - 52 -
APPENDICES............................................................................................................. - 55 -
Appendix One: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 1) ........................................ - 55 -
Appendix Two: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 2) ........................................ - 56 -
Appendix Three: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 3) ..................................... - 57 -
Appendix Four: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 4) ....................................... - 58 -
Appendix Five: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 5)........................................ - 59 -
Appendix Six: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lessons 6 & 7) ................................. - 60 -
Appendix Seven: Consent Letter for Principal......................................................... - 61 -
Appendix Eight: Consent Letter for Parents (English & Chinese Versions) ............ - 63 -
Appendix Nine: Transcription (Interview 1) ............................................................ - 66 -
Appendix Ten: Transcription (Interview 2) .............................................................. - 70 -
Appendix Eleven: Transcription (Interview 3)......................................................... - 72 -
Appendix Twelve: Transcription (Interview 4) ........................................................ - 74 -
Appendix Thirteen: Transcription (Interview 5) ...................................................... - 77 -
Appendix Fourteen: Transcription (Interview 6)...................................................... - 79 -
Appendix Fifteen: Transcription (Interview 7) ........................................................ - 82 -
Appendix Sixteen: Transcription (Interview 8) ........................................................ - 84 -
Appendix Seventeen: Pilot Questionnaire ................................................................ - 86 -
Appendix Eighteen: Post-Questionnaire .................................................................. - 87 -
Appendix Nineteen: Analysis of Questionnaires...................................................... - 89 -

ii

FIGURES & TABLES.............................................................................................. - 104 -

Figure 1: Vygotskys Socio-Cultural Theory...................................................... - 104 -
Figure 2: Dornyeis Motivational Dimensions ................................................... - 105 -
Figure 3: Krashens Theories of Motivation ...................................................... - 106 -
Figure 4: Sullivans Motivational Language ...................................................... - 107 -
Figure 5: Time Frame of Action Research ......................................................... - 108 -
Table 1: Time-table of the case study class (2010-2011) .................................... - 109 -
Table 2: Table outlining the main particulars of the 8 interviewees .................- 110 -
Table 3: Matching the questions with elements in the theoretical realm ......... - 111 -
ENCLOSURES .......................................................................................................... - 112 -
Enclosure 1: Recordings of English Oral Lessons (6 discs) ...............................- 112 -
Enclosure 2: Recording of 8 Interviews (1 disc) .................................................- 113 -

iii

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this dissertation represents my own work and that it has not been
previously submitted to this University or any other institution in application for
admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications.

________________________
Prakash Nenumal ADVANI
August 2011

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

No man is an island. This will be perennially true for me.

I am grateful always when I have the opportunity to thank people around me for all
the help, support and care that they give me so readily and willingly.
To my dear tutor, Ms. Cheri Chan of Hong Kong University. I have learnt so much
from you. Your style, grace and elegance lends so much of yourself to the completion
of this thesis. Your scholarly advice and input always came at the right time,
motivating me to forge ahead and get things done. You are the true motivator of this
thesis. To my other dear tutors, and I cannot name them all, I thank you for your
kindnesses, patience and clarity of vision in guiding me and supporting me in this
journey of education and enlightenment.
To my dear sister, Bina, who teaches me so much just by being herself and loving me
in so many ways I thank you. My darling nieces, Sai Kirthi Daswani who is a
genius at computers and patiently allowed her expertise flow through this thesis. SaiSangeeth Daswani who meticulously poured in her expertise with so much love and
passion all the way to the wee small hours. To you both, I thank you. My friend
Charles Stewart who lives in California and unhesitatingly jumped on the bandwagon
I thank you for your input. To Joy Kudomgoth, who served me quietly and
faithfully and left me alone in my room to complete my work, understanding that it
was important to me I thank you.
To my dearly beloved parents, Mr. Nenumal Mangharam Advani and Mrs. Gul
Nenumal Advani whom I think about on a daily basis. There are always with me.
Your love, support and blessings, I know, are with me at every single step in my life.
You have given me so much, too much and for that, I thank you and am eternally
grateful.

ABSTRACT

This thesis is on motivation. It is an action research case study of my own classroom

practices coupled with the study of motivational forces that drive or inhibit students
to learn or disengage. As Covington (1998) cited in McDonough (2007:370) offers:
the importance of the beliefs learners hold about themselves, and therefore their
level of aspiration and the kinds of strategies they operate or can be taught to adopt,
to achieve what they want for themselves. It incorporates the instrumental planning,
teaching and supporting that the teachers role in the classroom defines.
The time frame, participants and research methods such as interviews and
questionnaires are all outlined within. The findings showed that students in my
classroom were intrinsically motivated and regarded learning English as important,
useful, fun and participated in classroom activities with a sense of enjoyment.
The implications of the research study indicates motivational strategies have their
place in the classroom. With an increased understanding of these motivational
strategies, their implementations and the motivational dynamics that interplay within
the classroom, motivational levels can be raised further and with a concerted effort of
building relationships between teachers and students, appropriate and relevant
contents and contexts, a step towards the bridging of learning and language
acquisition of English by students in local CMI schools can be envisioned and
realized.

vi

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1

Introduction

Students in Hong Kong are always perceived to be lacking in motivation when

learning English. Teachers of English from all corners of Hong Kong comment on
motivation and how to best encourage their students to master the English language,
are interactive in their learning and self-motivated beyond the classroom. Pennington
(1992b) raises questions of some of the more pressing problems such as motivations
for students to learn, teaching methods geared to Hong Kong students and the
promotion of activities to lessen learner anxiety to promote the use of the language.
For me, getting students to participate in classrooms during lessons can be an arduous
task let alone inspiring them beyond the classroom. The major challenges are getting
them to speak or to take part in any activity without some coercion. As MacIntyre,
Baker, Clement & Donovan (2002) explain individuals display consistent tendencies
in their predisposition toward or away from communicating, given the choicewith
regard to L2 usethe level of ones L2 proficiency, and particularly that of the
individuals L2 communicative competence, is an additional powerful modifying
variable. This affects the motivation to speak in class.
Strategies such praise, goal-setting, scaffolding, providing language in a challenging
way are on most teachers agendas as a result of low motivation. Tremblay &
Gardner (1995) introduced the term goal-salience conceptualized as a composite of
the specificity of the learners goal and the frequency of goal-setting strategies used.
With a desire to improve my own techniques in the pursuit of better teaching, I look
toward motivational strategies to raise participation and involvement from my
students. To this, I decided to do an action research to explore how strategies can be
implemented to motivate students and indeed, which of these strategies work well to
produce results in my classroom. Hopkins (1985:156) describes action research as
when the combination of action and research renders that action a form of
disciplined inquiry, in which a personal attempt is made to understand, improve and
reform practice. Cohen et al (1994:186) define it as a small-scale intervention in
the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such an
intervention. One of action researchs founding fathers, Corey (1953:6) cited in
Cohen et al (2006:297) calls it a process in which practitioners study problems
scientifically so that they can evaluate, improve and steer decision-making and
practice.

1.2.

The Action Research Project

The action research was to introduce motivating elements into the classroom to find
out their effectiveness. Motivation is still often considered as one of the main
determinants of second and foreign language learning achievement (Gardner, 1985;
Gardner & Lambert, 1972). From the study, I could hence ascertain which of these
motivating elements played a significant role in my classroom and from that, be able

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to implement them on a regular basis. Moreover, the findings can be shared among
other researchers and educators.
1.2.1 The Case Study
The school is a Chinese-medium one in Kowloon. An established school with a firm
reputation in academics and sports, there is an ample supply of prospective students
as each enrolment year begins. It is under the Catholic Diocese which ensures a
moral and civic culture within the school with an emphasis given to both academia
and character-building. The students are of a middle-class and lower middle-class
social background dichotomizing into single-parent families as well as families with
various social and financial issues.
My Primary Six class consists of 32 students: 17 boys and 15 girls. Thirty students
are Chinese, one is Thai and one is Vietnamese. As their English teacher, I have 9
lessons with them weekly where we learn a variety of skills in English: writing skills
which include diaries, stories, imaginative pieces, reading skills, speaking and
listening skills that include presentations, peer-to-peer interactions as well as common
everyday language skills which include instructions, negotiations and other forms of
communication (see Table 1 for the time-table).
The students are of the same academic background. They have all been studying in
this school since Primary Three though many of them started at Primary One. They
are by and large at a similar continuum of learning and performance. Their ages
range between 11 and 13 as a few of them are recent immigrants from China and
were therefore put into classes with lower-aged students at the time of enrolment in
hopes for them to catch up. In other words, there are no major discrepancies between
the children who are the subjects of my study. Of the 32 in my class, six of them
opted not to participate in my study and were excluded from any activities pertaining
to it.
1.2.2. The Action Research Cycles
Over a period of four months, I implemented elements of motivational strategies in
my classroom during English lessons and observed the results produced by my
actions during these lessons. The cycles were introduced on a weekly basis after a
period of initial observations. It was from these observations that I chose some
specific strategies to which I felt were worthy and relevant to the type of classroom I
taught in. The aim was to implement the strategies, look for an increased
involvement, if any, note which strategies worked best with the quickest and most
effective results, then continue with these strategies and implement another one and
observe the cycle again. In the lessons, as each strategy was introduced and others
maintained, the amount of participation, level of involvement and any new findings
were all observed. This observed participation along with direct conversations with
my students and two questionnaires provided data for analysis. There were primarily
five motivational elements that I introduced, namely, praise on a personal level with
specific content, competitive games, rewards or prizes, providing scaffolding in order
for them to gain success enhancing their feelings of achievement and introducing
contextual activities relating to topics of interest and relevance to them.

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1.3

Research Questions

1.3.1. Key Action Research Questions

This study aims to investigate the following questions:
1.

What motivational strategies best support, improve and enhance

learning in a Primary Six classroom in a local CMI context ?

2.

What kind of scaffolding should be implemented for language learners

of English in a local CMI context ?

3.

What kinds of restructuring or redesigning in language output will

best meet the needs of students in an L2 classroom ?

4.

In the context of CMI schools whereby the use of English is limited,

what can be done in my classroom to raise motivational levels,
language levels and provide an easier facilitation of teaching and
learning of English ?

1.3.2. Aims of the Study

The action research was to study which elements introduced in a local primary
classroom best serve its students as motivating agents and whether these elements
show results of increased involvement, greater participation in class, an enjoyable
experience in learning English and a sustained and self-motivated way for learning.
From the findings, I have come to a better understanding of what works in my
classroom, how students respond and how to best make use of such strategies to
increase participation in the classroom. Additionally, I wish to critically reflect on
my own teaching practices in order to improve my input to students, the language and
approach I adopt in class in order to increase language output from students.
Professional development towards this end will effectively improve results of
students and their acquisition of the English language. The study will also inform me
of how to best engineer lessons with the tenets of sustaining motivational levels in
students and, taking it a step further, of negating the demotivational forces whilst
simultaneously keeping the motivating agents that produce results.

1.4

Overview of the Dissertation

This section provides an overview of the dissertation. Following this introduction,

Chapter 2 provides a literature review of theories of motivation and learning as well
as parallel findings from other studies into motivational strategies, motivating forces
and their effects as well as studies done on raising motivational levels, sustaining
these levels and empowering students to gradually be self-motivated in their learning
and have ownership of their actions, interactions and learning in and out of the
classroom.

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In Chapter 3, the approach and methods employed in the action research and their
justifications will be discussed. The data will then be analyzed and discussed in
Chapter 4 and the manifestations will be categorized in order to make summative and
purported findings along with implications.
Last but not least, a critical reflection of the entire process including how subsequent
action research projects could be better carried out. Implications for my own
professional development and how I will use these findings to improve my teaching
practices will all be part of Chapter 5, the concluding chapter.

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CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Motivation

The research on motivational strategies encompass a range of other areas of pedagogy

the contents of the lesson, the level of the subject matter, the pace of the lesson, the
type of students, the ambience and environmental factors related to the classroom,
peer-to-peer relationships, activities in the classroom and socio-cultural undertones
prevalent in the classroom. In order to confine the study to a specific area, I have
chosen to focus on a few motivational strategies. Thus, only the ones mentioned in
Chapter One will be investigated and applied. It is now apt to define what
motivation is and what it means specifically in education and learning domains.
Motivation means to move. Curzon (2004) specifically defines motivation as:
the phenomena involved in a persons drives and goal-seeking behaviour; the
tendencies to activity which commence with a persistent stimulus and end
with an appropriate adjustive response; the arousal, regulation and sustaining
of a pattern of behaviour; the internal state or condition that results in
behaviour directed towards a specific goal.
Curzon (2004) understands motivation as coming from within the student for various
reasons and can be harnessed by external sources, one being the teacher. It is thus
one of the roles of the teacher to bring about motivation towards students learning
and language acquisition. It is the utilization of these motivational strategies by the
teacher that propels his students into interaction, learnability and ultimately, being
self-motivated in other words, assuming ownership of that learning process.
Dornyei (2001) puts it: Motivation is an essential element of successful language
acquisition and is a dynamic process subject to continuous flux. To the language
teacher, again, this is a veritable area to be looked into and one that could produce
increased success in teaching and learning in the classroom. As stated, since it is
subject to continuous flux, it is also included in the role for teachers to guide and
sustain motivational levels among students in order to have a firmer grasp of that
success in the classroom. Keeping motivational levels high in the classroom aids
teaching and opens up learning spaces for the students. Dornyei (2004:425-432)
states Motivation provides the primary impetus to embark on learning, and later the
driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process , Motivation to
learn a foreign language involves all those attitudes and cognitions that initiate
language learning, determine language choice, and energize the language learning
process.
There are two main types of motivation. There is intrinsic motivation that comes
from within the learner. It is a desire within the learner to learn and master that which
is being taught and pursued. The motivation brings joy, pleasure and satisfaction to
the learner. For example, if the learner chooses a particular game to play, say cricket,
and derives satisfaction playing the game, he would want to continue playing the
game and most certainly, on his own accord, learn to be a better cricket player to the
point where he would want to excel in the game. The value of succeeding at the
game and the satisfaction derived by the learner are all forces that come from within.

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The other kind of motivation is labelled extrinsic motivation. This is motivation that
comes from outside sources that steers the student, gives stimulus and causes the
student to judge the study as a source that brings a reward which comes in many
forms. Through these stimuli, the student applies himself to his betterment and
engages in activities possibly bringing about success through his efforts. The sources
that bring a reward could be praise, encouragement and acceptance from parents,
teachers, peers and friends or could take the form of winning a prize, medal or trophy,
inclusion in a social circle, recognition and could even include attaining a position or
beating a record. The reward that is attained can even give impetus to the learner to
continue to aim higher and ultimately, excel in that field of study. As long as the
factors pertaining to the motivation continue to exist, the learner is motivated to
continue. Thus, a range or external sources, from psychological to socio-cultural to
acquisitive, could be motivating factors.
2.1.1 Motivation by way of Success Criteria
Glasson (2009) argues that success criteria are directly linked to the learning
intention. They spell out the skills, knowledge and understanding that students are
expected to demonstrate in a particular activity or task in order to meet the learning
intention. Students who know what is expected of them and have the rubrics clearly
outlined by the teacher also provides motivation.
Students in Hong Kong are perceived to be grade-conscious. Examination results are
often an influential force in their revision and learning practices. A research
completed by Lam et al (2004) on competitiveness concluded that competitiveness
induces performance goals and worsens self-evaluation after failure among Chinese
students. It follows that failure in such exams are demotivating. For teachers to be
clear as to what is expected from the students in examinations provides a source of
motivation for local students. Students, having a clear picture of how to attain this
goal, are duly motivated. For example, in my English Oral lessons, students are
clearly told that oral presentations must be over two minutes long, include an
introduction and an ending, have at least two to three forms of tenses and an account
of personal experience, have good eye contact and an audible voice. These are all
elements that my students know must be present in their oral presentations. Providing
a checklist motivates students to identify their learning goals and what they need to
attain success.
As Sadler (1998), puts it: We need to let students into the secret, allowing them to
become insiders of the assessment process. We need to make provisions for them to
become members of the guild of people who can make consistently sound judgments
and know why these judgments are justifiable. Along the same lines, Glasson (2009)
adds, Some students will succeed even if they are kept in the dark because they are
highly motivated and because they have already learned to be actively engaged in
their own learning. Despite this, clarity in assessment criteria is indispensible
especially for the lower achievers if they are to understand what is expected of them
in order to have a direction to do better.

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2.1.2. Other Categories of Motivation

A very extrinsic motivation whereby students perform tasks with the main focus of
obtaining a tangible reward or avoiding some form of reprimand has been termed as
instrumental motivation. The motivational force is entirely from the outside and
geared towards the attainment or non-attainment of reward and censure.
For students who perform tasks in the classroom merely to please someone they
respect, this kind of motivation is called social motivation. It includes students who
wish to be presented in a positive light in front of peers or others that they may want
attention and recognition from. While an L2 is a learnable school subject in that
discrete elements of the communication code can be taught explicitly, it is also
socially and culturally bound, which makes language learning a deeply social event
that requires the incorporation of a wide range of elements of the L2 culture
(Gardner, 1979; Williams, 1994).
Then there is achievement motivation. This is motivation where the drive is of a
cognitive nature the student satisfies a need-to-know and a need-to-accomplish in
an area of study. It graduates to the level of satisfying a need for self-esteem that
comes from achieving a task or mastering an area of study. This can be tied in with
approval needs and acceptance from others, propelling the student with the desired
motivation to succeed.

2.2

Theories of Motivation and Learning

2.2.1 Vygotskian Theories

From Vygotskys (1978) Socio-Cultural Theory of Learning, motivation is perceived
to be interlinked with social and cultural aspects. It is context specific and highly
dependent on what the activity setting is and how the activities relate to its learners.
The motivation is derived from a system of activities relating to the social and
cultural aspects of the learners. In other words, the implication of this theory is that
motivation stems from authentic content linked with social and cultural contexts that
are related directly to the learners. The motivation does not stem from the learners
but is brought forth by the activities and through the mediation among the learners.
The social element of the process of negotiation results in interest employing
cognitive and affective engagement. For example, if students are challenged to assist
a fellow classmate to write a letter for forgiveness, it relates directly to them and
pertains to real circumstances involving contexts that are concrete and culturally
relevant to them. This approach, using social and cultural tools in context, provides a
shared problem space whereby students are invited to negotiate, use previous
knowledge to construct newly-formed ideas that tackle these problems presented.
Through this process, they mediate, internalize and produce solutions. The cultural
tools, mixed with the experience of social interactions among peers, is thus perceived
as a motivating point. As Vygotsky (1978) propounds:
Learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able
to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment
and in co-operation with peers.

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To provide such motivating scenarios is thus the role of the teacher. The use of social
and cultural contexts to provide a platform for learning and interaction affords for
motivation. The setting as well as the task at hand culminate in a platform for
learning devised to tap into the knowledge already gained by the learners and puts
them in a situation where they need to negotiate and present a viable solution to the
task is of high motivation.
Directly linking with this is Vygotskys Theory of Social Development where he
states that children participate freely in their learning interactions and it is from these
interactions that they learn from each other. Internalization is when imitation of the
language learnt leads to ownership of that language. For language learners, the
language is tried by reflection and internalized in the childs psyche. The
production of sounds, words, phrases by means of imitation become their own. As
the student produces results, the progress is reflected in the childs mind and
mobilizes motivation.
Vygotsky (1978) links this internalization to the ZPD (Zone of Proximal
Development). Vygotsky states the ZPD embodies three key aspects or themesthe
joint effort of the consciousness of the participants engaged in dialogue. It is thus a
construct about dyads, not individuals. Second, both participants play active
instrumental roles. Third, the interaction between participants is organized in a
dynamic, dialectical fashion. The teacher scaffolds a child by instructing and
giving assistance with the aim to bridge what the child has learnt into the next stage
of learning. According to Vygotsky (1978), since learning involves moving beyond
current levels of competence, scaffolding should function to move learners into the
nearest reaches of their incompetence and should help them became competent there.
As learning continues, the leading edge of the reaches of incompetence keeps moving
on. Teachers and learners must both map the limits of competence and strive together
to move just beyond it. This scaffolding takes the child from a zone of learning
that he has already mastered into the next zone of learning a metaphorical
movement from one zone to the next when the student is able to complete the task at
hand or understands the concept with the help or tutelage of the teacher. When the
learning in the child results in appropriation and internalization of that knowledge that
comes from the assistance, development occurs and the child has moved into the next
zone of learning. It is in this zone that the child can independently use that
knowledge to perform a number of extended activities in a broader range of tasks.
This, according to Vygotsky, is development. Lantolf (2005) states that Vygotskys
concept of ZPD the ZPD illustrates the process wherein mediation by culturalhistorical resources (human and material) can be seen to create the present and
transform the future. This is what Vygotsky meant when he propounded the critical
relationship between assisted and self-regulated performance by the learner; one
being the learning and the other, development. To link it to motivation, it is this
internalization when that development occurs that raises motivation propelling one to
advance more and aim higher on his own accord. To accentuate this, the teacher is
the agent that ensures the contents, context and strategies that all amalgamate into a
personalized experience for the learners providing more opportunities for students to
be further motivated. McGroarty (2001) explains that contextualization of L2
motivation does not happen in isolation but coincides with parallel situated shift in
psychology that highlights the role of the social context in any learning activity. The
situated approach appears to be a particularly fruitful direction for future L2

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motivation research.
The confidence and the feeling of success through ZPD lends credence to the learner
and proves to be a very rich experience whereby the learner is motivated and initiated
to continue and excel further. In order for this to take place, ONeil & Drillings
(1994) state a much more critical look at the nature of instruction, at the sorts of
specific conditions that we organize for students learning. Our work suggests that
students motivation is mediated by the extent to which the pedagogy brings learning
to life. The context that teachers prepare for lessons needs to be authentic and have
an element for students to personalize that learning where their interests are piqued.
Elements that also challenge their abilities should be incorporated into tasks and
provide motivation in tackling the tasks. ONeil & Drillings (1994) explain that this
calls for reorienting our efforts towards the development of motivational support or
scaffolding, where we fully exploit the existing resources of individuals, schools
and communities in mediating students active engagement with classroom learning
in ways to make contact with their experiences. All this enhances motivation in
learner whereby activities that prove to be challenging, yet within the zone of
proximal development, motivate them to move into the next zone (i + 1). This is
similar to Krashens Theory of Comprehensible Input. Krashen (1981) states if i is
the language learners current level of competence in the foreign language, then i + 1
is the next immediate step along the development continuum. Therefore, if the goal is
to assist the language learners progress in their task, it is essential to provide the
learner with comprehensible input (i + 1).
Motivation also stems from other factors within the learner, the first one being,
persistence. As the learner stays with the activity and is committed to mastering the
knowledge within the activity, motivation is high. Another factor is choice of
challenge. Within a learners mind, the desire to move onto the next level of
difficulty comes from intrinsic motivation. The learner welcomes the succeeding
level and is motivated to continue knowing it will give him a greater sense of
accomplishment in this new level of learning. A sense of independence and selfenquiry coupled with initial success is another great motivating force for the learner.
Figure 1 shows how all these forces interplay with one another boosting motivational
levels.
2.2.2. Dornyeis Theories of Motivation
In the classroom, lessons conducted in a skilled way by the teacher also kindle
motivation. According to Dornyei (1994), teacher skills in motivating learners
should be seen as central to teaching effectiveness. The effectiveness of teaching is
thus brought about by a teachers use of language, choice of words, disposition,
modeling, task presentations, feedback and judgment of his students, among a host of
other ways-of-being.
The teacher skills mentioned in the above quote relates in different levels is linked to
motivation. Firstly, the self-concept of a student, Dornyei (1994) says, is related to
the personality, emotions and feelings of the learner. How he perceives himself as a
learner, the confidence level he brings to the classroom, anxiety or reservations of any
kind he may have, will also manifest in the motivation he has for that learning. Deci

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& Ryan (1985) cited in Dornyei (2001:29) state autonomy: experiencing oneself as
the origin of ones behaviour, competence: feeling efficacious and having a sense of
accomplishment, relatedness: feeling close to and connected to other individuals all
play their part. From this, he will have failures and successes, which Dornyei
explains will, in turn, provide an attributional factor to his motivation. Furthermore,
self-efficacy also plays a role in determining motivation for that learning. The belief
that the student can produce results and his determination to succeed plays on his
motivational levels too. The need for achievement in a learners mind also dispels or
accrues motivational momentum.
Another perspective comes from learning enjoyment, sense of interest and
satisfaction gained through learning and knowledge acquisition. These are affective
factors that bring about added motivation. The pragmatic dimension relates to the
need of the learning in relation to the needs and goals of the learner, again increasing
and directing motivation towards learning. There is also an important dimension that
Dornyei (1994) coins as the educational context-related dimension, which is
motivation sprouting from the classroom environment. The goal-related dimension is
one that the learner is clear about why he is learning and what the tangible goals
achieved are by the completion of study. As Pintrich & Schunk (2002) recently
concluded goal-orientation theory is probably the most active area of research on
student motivation in classrooms and it has direct implications for students and
teachers. Last but not least, Dornyei (1994) states there is a significant othersrelated dimension where relationships from parents, family and friends have their
effect on motivational levels.
To this, the teacher must create the receptacle to garner all resources that can be made
available to raise motivational levels in the classroom. Firstly, the teacher must
present himself as an authoritative figure who shows a level of competence and
teachability. The presentations of the tasks must be clear, uncomplicated and within
reach to the students. They must be pleasantly and attractively presented as one of
interest, fun and do-ability. Dornyei (2003) reiterates that interest in the
motivational basis of language learning tasks can be seen as the culmination of the
situated approach in L2 motivation research. The teacher must also know the
students well, know their shortcomings and strengths in order to motivate them. The
relationship of the teacher and his students is also of paramount importance as again
motivational levels will depend on how well-liked the teacher is. Dornyei (2001)
claims the teacher-specific motivational component, e.g. the motivational impact of
the teachers personality, behaviour, and teaching style/practice all have their effect
on motivation. Feedback is also a motivating force as it enlightens the students of
their work and steers them towards paths of success thus bringing about higher levels
of motivation.
Figure 2 shows how motivating forces are shaped by input and ways-of-being by
the teacher.
Thanasoulas (2002) findings also match and link with Dornyeis (1998) theories.
Thanasoulas (2002) claims that before any kind of motivational strategies can be
implemented, certain preconditions have to be met. In short, there needs to be
adequate rapport between the teacher and student, a pleasant and supportive learning
atmosphere in the classroom and a group of learners that make up a unit characterized

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by proper and set group norms. Only then can motivational strategies be
implemented when all these are in place. Thanasoulas (2002) cited in Dornyei (1998)
that the behaviour of the teacher is in itself a powerful tool and exerts great influence
in the classroom. Thanasoulas (2002) also quotes Alison that the establishment of a
mutual trust and respect between the teacher and students provides enthusiasm which
lays the groundwork for proper behaviour and sets the wheels of motivation in place.
Thanasoulas (2002) further states unless teachers increase their learners' goalorientedness, make curriculum relevant for students and create realistic learner
beliefs, they will come up against a classroom environment fraught with lack of
cohesiveness and rebellion.
2.2.3. Amotivation
To combat demotivation, Thanasoulas (2002) continues that unless motivation is
sustained and protected when action has commenced, the natural tendency to get tired
or bored of the task and succumb to any attractive distractions will result in
demotivation. Two things are prescribed against this threat of demotivation and they
are increasing the self-confidence of learners and at the same time, creating learner
autonomy. Good and Brophy (1994: 228) note that "the simplest way to ensure that
people value what they are doing is to maximise their free choice and autonomy"
which is also reiterated by Ushioda (1997: 41) who states that "self-motivation is a
question of thinking effectively and meaningfully about learning experience and
learning goals. It is a question of applying positive thought patterns and belief
structures so as to optimise and sustain one's involvement in learning".
The threat of demotivation or amotivation is also rampant. In a study that refers to
amotivation explains it as people who see no relation between their actions and
consequences of those actionsin such a situation, people have no reason, intrinsic
or extrinsic, for performing the activity, and they would be expected to quit the
activity as soon as possible (Noels, Pelletier, Clement & Vallerand, 2000:40).
A research finding made by Amy Tsui (2003) when conducting why students were
reticent in English classrooms, reports that many teachers attribute the lack of
response to students not being able to understand teachers questions and
instructions. The lack of comprehensible input is perceived as a demotivational
force. Students inability to grasp simple language in the classroom results in
demotivation. The anxiety is multiplied and brings about a total shutdown by the
student as can be evidenced all over Hong Kong classrooms. In the same research,
Tsui (2003) talks about the uneven allocation of turns and the monopoly of the
teachers voice pervading the classroom coupled by the unwillingness of the students
to speak. Tsui continues that teachers are intolerant of silence in the classrooms and
therefore, on finding that no students are willing to respond to a question asked, they
allocate the turn to another student, provide the answers themselves, or repeat or
modify the question. But unbeknownst to local teachers, the silence, the passing of
the turn or indeed a monologue in the classroom by the teacher only creates more
anxiety and demotivation as students are then set in their ways and realize through
experience that by keeping silent, the lesson goes on and the bell soon rings thereafter.
It is demotivating not to understand the teacher, to produce language that they have
no confidence in as well as knowing that silence in the classroom will somehow,
inevitably, tick away the time all which stifle learning.

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2.2.4. Krashens Theory of Second-Language Acquisition

Krashen based his theory under five branches of hypothesis. The input hypothesis
states the availability of input which is comprehensible to the learner is the only
necessary condition for language learning to take place (Mitchell & Myles
2004:160). Swain challenged this hypothesis and propounded the output hypothesis
stating second language production (i.e. output) really forces students to undertake
complete grammatical processing, and this drives forward most effectively the
development of second language syntax and morphology (Mitchell & Myles
2004:160). The two sides of one coin attributes to the importance of language being
comprehensible input for students to turn it into intake (language and knowledge
internalized) as well as properly formed, utilized by the learner for expression, turntaking and communication.
Krashens (1985) Input Hypothesis examines and supports gesturing, modeling and
the exposure to language from the teacher for the students to acquire the language
best by understanding this input that is a little above their current level of
understanding and competence. The implication for motivation is to have meaningful
interaction and a natural form of communication for the benefit of the students to
listen, imitate, imbibe and internalize. Also, a monitor system to check such
utterances and communicative expressions from students and to complete a host of
activities aiding students such as clarification checks, repetitions when modeling,
recasting, comprehension checks and re-wording, examples relevant to the students
and confirmation checks all provide students with confidence and encouragement.
When learners feel they are given proper feedback as well as a chance to try out the
language in the safe confines of a classroom, the student is motivated to be part of the
process whereby learning begins.
The Natural Order Hypothesis expounded by Krashen states a logical and
chronological acquisition of rules of language. As the simpler forms are learnt,
practised and corrected, more complicated forms are then tested and taught.
Motivation by way of teaching and behaving on the part of the teacher by slowly
progressing and moving from simple to more complicated processes also give vent to
the idea that students are progressing in their acquisition of the language after simpler
tenets have been tried. Krashen (1981) reiterates that acquisition requires
meaningful interaction in the target language natural communication in which
speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages
they are conveying and understanding.
Krashens (1981) monitor model the difference between language learning and
language acquisition. The former chiefly about the form of the language and the
latter about the message of the language, it is up to the teachers strategies that extend
to the students to address problems and queries about the form of the language but at
the same time, to commend the students when either form is followed or the message
is clear despite grammatical mistakes or wrong order word choice. By understanding
Krashens differentiation, the motivation strategy aims to acknowledge students
correct use of the language as well as their ability to get a message across producing
meaningful communication that serves the purpose of the matter at hand.

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Figure 3 shows Krashens five-pronged hypothesis linked into motivation, though

some are more relevant and play a direct role with raising learners motivational
levels.
2.2.5. Sullivans Three Roles of Language as Motivation Theories
Another branch of motivational language that has been propounded is by Sullivan.
As an educator, speech acts are also very highly motivating and have positive effects
on the minds and confidence levels of learners. Speech acts in the classrooms that
inform, confirm, dispel falsehoods and create a space for learners to learn in trust and
safety in the acquisition of learning is through perlocutionary speech acts. Sullivan
(1998) suggests motivation theories focus on language that informs and that reduces
uncertaintyinclude the impact of three kinds of speech acts uncertainty-reducing
acts, meaning-making acts and human-bonding acts on motivation is proposed.
They dispel any doubt or nagging interferences that learners may have about content
or way of usage. The meaning-making acts that are locutionary speech acts convey
that the teacher is aware of the leaps in their acquisition through praise, positive
feedback and in some cases, even exclamations of triumph adding a sense of
wonderment into classroom languages that propel motivation in learners. Lastly,
through illocutionary speech acts that build upon relationships and bonds between
learner and teacher are also motivation-building. By acknowledging students of their
work and participation provide a sense of satisfaction and attraction that motivates the
students.
Figure 4 shows the positive interplay that can seep into and bring about motivational
heights in the classroom through these language or speech acts.
However, in Cohen & Olshtains (1993) review of speech acts in a TESOL quarterly,
it emphasizes the incidences of students being unable to understand or appreciate
speech acts in the classroom. There may be cause for concern here because if the
students fail to comprehend what the teacher is saying (in regard to their feedback),
the communication may be misconstrued. In their review and research of speech acts
in foreign-student classrooms, they concluded that if students were to try mimicking
such speech acts, the results could be one of the following omission, simplification,
abandonment of a word or expression, approximation, partial delivery of a thought,
delivery of a different thought to even wrong usage of the speech act. In this
research, I used clear and simple language when praising any student in order to
avoid any chance of being misunderstood.

2.3

Previous Research on Motivation

Here I will offer a brief overview of some researches on motivation. The four areas
of variables linked to motivation have all been described earlier in discussing the
theorists and their assertions. They are also classified along side researches of
educational psychology research. The review of literature that follows is therefore
only along the lines of those strategies discussed before.
Gardner (2010) writes about the results from a research that comments on the socioeducational model, that motivation is affected by two variables. One, he states, is the

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attitude toward the learning situation which includes the classroom, all course
materials and the teacher. That which motivates is how the teacher can best come
across to students by ways of being, tone, language, rapport and building a learnerfriendly atmosphere. The other variables such as, the classroom and course materials,
were beyond my control. The second variable, Gardner (2010) contends is
integrativeness referring to socio-political elements, which did not play a defining
role in my study and research.
Cited in Oxford (1999), findings on motivation research state that effects of
motivation in the form of interest in a subject are similar in intensity to effects of
ability, and there are effects of quality cognitive processing related to interest
(Renninger et al, 1992). These findings play predominant roles in motivating learners
and gaps will need to be filled in what interests learners and how these can be
fostered to bring about higher and sustained motivation in local classrooms.
Gallagher (1994) offers that self-efficacy can vary from subject matter and learning
content. It can be modified and also applies to teacher behaviour as well as student
behaviour. Also proposed is the view from Dweck & Leggert (1988) that students
who perceive their own ability as low and who believe that ability is fixed also limit
their own achievement. A study done by Snow & Swanson (1992:600) concludes
that high teacher structure is best for more anxious students; low teacher structure is
best for less anxious students. As Guiora (1983) describes second-language learning
as a profoundly upsetting psychological proposition, learning about anxiety in
students through these researches done acquaints the teacher with the need to address
and allay such fears or anxiety about being in the classroomthe need to interact and
show upproducing language indicating learning and acquisition all these
anxieties may put fear in students and drive away motivation they may have. As
Guiora (1984) rightly points out that when students produce the language that they
are studying, they are testing out the hypothesis which they have formed about the
language. This will hint to the teacher that with proper scaffolding and more teacher
structure, for those students with some form of anxiety at the beginning, the start of
any language production, will be of use in building motivation and from that point,
with the teachers help, bridge over step by step to learn and produce more language
and this again will touch upon self-efficacy and some small success will cause a more
stable feeling for the learner as far as motivation and a willingness to learn and strive
further.
To raise motivation and sustain it in order to achieve language learning, it is apt to
look at some demotivational forces in the classroom and assure that these conditions,
if they exist, are immediately eradicated. Chambers (1999) encapsulates them in a
lengthy list. I only quote those that are directly relevant to this research study and can
be tackled by the strategies and motivating elements introduced in it. The list of
demotivating elements are low expectations by teachers, unrealistic demands on
learners, insufficient reinforcement of learning, lack of short-term target to reinforce
learners, course contents and teaching methods which are insufficiently stimulating or
relevant to pupils needs, insufficient attention given by some teachers to individual
learning difficulties, lack of external motivation and incentive to learn among others.
Although there is a mention that teachers cannot be held responsible for some of these
factors, the teachers role dictates that, to the best of their ability, motivation is not
only looked upon as an integral part of language learning but a force that manifests
itself as a deciding factor between success and failure in language acquisition.

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CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY

3.1

Research Approach: Action Research Case Study

This chapter aims to explain the methods used in my study and why they were
adopted. The reasons why this approach was taken is outlined and how they fittingly
match an action research case study.
There are tried and tested methods when conducting research in an educational
context. The choices that are made usually depend on the researcher and what the
research questions are, the participants of the research and nature of the study.
Whereas quantitative researchers predominantly deal with facts and numerical data,
I have opted to use a qualitative perspective for my research study as it
predominantly deals with students, feelings, their emotions and their perceptions of
what motivates them. As Bell (2010:5-6) defines researchers with a qualitative
perspective as those who are more concerned to understand individuals perceptions
of the world. They doubt whether social facts exist and question whether a scientific
approach can be used when dealing with human beings. As my research into how
motivational strategies and elements in the classroom interplay with students
participation, it is verily a humanistic and psychological arena with a more
unstructured line of questioning with intangible data that needs to be analyzed on a
one-to-one basis rather than comparing one set of data with another. Punch (2005:28)
cited in Bell (2010:6) is also quoted as saying that qualitative research not only uses
non-numerical and unstructured data but also, typically has research questions and
methods which are more general at the start, and become more focused as the study
progresses. I applied this approach in my research as when I interviewed the
participants in my study, it started with more general questioning eventually leading
to something deeper and more focused.
Interviews are verily words and expressions, both verbalized or those non-articulated
an exchange of communication nevertheless. Questionnaires bring about some
form of numerical or number-based statistics that herewith will triangulate with the
main sources of data the interviews. In Dornyei (2007), it states:
Although numbers can also be used in qualitative research, the dominant
form of QUAL evidence involves extracts from word-based narrative accounts
of either the respondents or the researcher himselfthus, credence is achieved
by illustrating and validating the researchers inferences with a representative
range of low-inference descriptors that bring the particular situation or
phenomenon alive. The aim is to provide a rich and vivid description so that
the reader can vicariously experience what it is like to be in the same
situation as the research participants. (Johnson & Christensen, 2004:539).
Furthermore, as mentioned by Dornyei (2007), quantitative research prevails over
qualitative research, in this instance, by allowing in fact, encouraging rich detail
as well as personal style and an informal tonebecause the results of a quantitative
study are usually seen as a co-constructed product of the participants and the
researchers perceptions. By having taught my students for three years, I have
gained personal insights into their characters, personalities, habits and moods, and am

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therefore familiar with how they learn, interact and indeed, react to a host of activities
and suggestions in the classroom. Moreover, I am familiar with their particular styles
of behaviour and can make conclusive judgments on their learning and progress
simply by observations and recurring patterns. Therefore, the challenge to question
my adopting the qualitative approach to data analysis can be put at bay by Dornyei
(2007)s declaration that:
the qualitative genre involves reflexivity, that is, including a discussion of the
writers biases, values and assumption in the textqualitative researchers
tend to use first person singular when talking about themselves rather than the
impersonal the researcherqualitative research offers writers the freedom to
have their own as well as their participants voices heard, which can be turned
into a powerful presentation tool. Given that the use of expressive language
tends to be also highly prized among qualitative researchers (Sandelowski,
2003), the qualitative writer has all the ingredients at his disposal to produce a
vivid, detail-rich, dramatized story which can be a far better read than a report
of the results of a multiple analysis of variance.
This is further argued by Holliday (2002:142) about the emergence of a new
thinking, especially within progressive qualitative research, which provides scope for
researchers as writers to use the conventions to establish a strong personal presence in
the genre (Dornyei, 2007).
In Cohen et al (2006:461), it says that qualitative data often focus on smaller
numbers of peoplethe data tend to be detailed and rich. It also states that
qualitative data analysis is often heavy on interpretation and therefore as I was the
one who was the interviewer and I am also the participants English teacher, have
known them long on a near-daily basis through a lot of classroom experiences, I shall
use the interview data to describe, interpret, form patterns from the conversations,
explore any similar themes in their responses or differences in some instances, that
produce some semblance of commonality or differentiation to answer the research
questions and bring out the key issues indicating motivation and the strategies
employed and explore which of these strategies, from the data received, played a role
in motivating my students and sustained the motivation.
By focusing on what the interviewees communicated in the interviews and through
interpretation, a reflection on all commonalities and similar responses will be made
and then constructing some paradigms for me to then focus on in strengthening or
making these strategies that stand out as major motivating forces in the classroom.
Johnson (2008:90) expounds a high quality analysis, whether quantitative,
qualitative, or both, is one that identifies important variables, issues, or themes,
discovers how these patterns interrelate in the bounded system, explains how these
interrelationships influence the phenomena under study and offers fresh new
insights.
Although done at a later stage after the report of the research study is completed, the
motivational elements that have been singled out from the research studies as
dominant forces can then be focused on in the classroom as part of the process of
progressive focusing. In Cohen et al (2006), according to Parlett & Hamilton (1976),
this starts with the researcher taking a wide angle lens to gather data and then, by

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sifting, sorting, reviewing and reflecting on them, the salient features of the situation
emergeakin to funnelling from the wide to the narrow.
3.1.1. Rationale for Action Research
A multitude of researchers and educationalists all support the use of action research
especially when it is used for areas in teaching, learning strategies, elicitation of
attitudes and values and continuing professional development. As Hopkins (1985:32)
in Cohen, et al (2006:297) points out the combination of action and research renders
that action a form of disciplined inquiry, in which a personal attempt is made to
understand, improve and reform practice. Others like Carr & Kemmis (1986) regard
it as self-reflective enquiry aimed at understanding and improvement of practices in
specific contexts. It can also be used when a problem surfaces and the practitioner
wants to understand or change the practice by way of improvement. McNiff
(2002:15) states action research combines diagnosis, action and reflection focusing
on practical issues that have been identified by participants and which are somehow
both problematic yet capable of being changed (Cohen et al, 2006:298).
Before explaining why action research was adopted, it is apt to explain what is action
research and why it is suitable for my particular form of study. Bell (2010:6) defines
action research as an approach which is appropriate in any context when specific
knowledge is required for a specific problem in a specific situation, or when a new
approach is to be grafted on to an existing system. This applies directly to my
situation in the local classroom whereby I was using specific means to motivate
students. With a view to learn how the motivational strategies enhanced learning, an
action research study was fittingly put in place.
Walker (1985) states that action research is seen as interrelated with organization,
curriculum and teaching; it has an educational as well as a research purpose. By
action research, the process itself was informing me of the situation in the classroom
apart from what was working. I was learning more about my students, their social
skills, their personalities and the inter-relationship amongst them, all factors that
interplayed with motivational strategies. Action research has an educational value
besides being purely a tool for this study.
Walker (1985) continues to say that the reason why those working in applied or
action research tend to favour qualitative, or small-scale and exploratory quantitative
techniques, not because of an ideological allegiance to certain philosophies of
knowledge, but because such methods provide a flexibility in response that allows the
focus of the research to move as the research progresses. Action research is alive
and changing: it is implemented, results analyzed followed by reflection before the
next cycle with the new and improved implementations are introduced. By new and
improved, it is again tested to see what worked and what needs to be strengthened
depending on new findings and results from that next stage or cycle. These are action
research cycles.
Cohen et al (2006:41) defines applied research as evaluation done through a given
theory and not an interrogation or a test of the theory. The evaluations and reflections
are all geared towards the improvement of the study and situation. Moreover, when
the designs become more flexible, there is an advantage to re-conceptualize the focus

- 17 -

and the overall design so as to fit the next stage of action. The responsiveness that
each cycle produces in findings allow such flexibility to occur and to be implemented
is in itself an essential feature of action research. Thus, action research cycles can
even be done in short spans of time and can bring about changes and improvements
within a limited time frame.
Carr & Kemmis (1986:162) state action research is a form of collective selfreflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve
the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices (Cohen et al,
2006:298). As a teacher, I become a participant in this research where teaching
methods and learning strategies are investigated with a view to improve from the
results. Kemmis & McTaggart (1992:21-22) continue and say what action research is
not: usual thinking teachers do when they think about their teachingsimply
problem-solvinga research done on other peoplenot the scientific method applied
to teaching. Rather, it is more systematic and collaborative in collecting
evidenceinvolves problem-posing, not just problem-solving. It is motivated by a
quest to improve and understand the world by changing it and learning how to
improve it from the effects of the changes made. Moreover, they add it is research
done by particular people on their own work to help them improve what they do,
including how they work with and for others (Cohen et al, 2006:298). Action
research aims at enhancing competency, seeks to understand specific situations,
improve the quality of such situational practices, is alive and adjustable in that the
aims and methodology can change during its process, is part and parcel of evaluation
and reflection, with results and findings offered as a sharing experience in order to fill
gaps that are still unvisited and unexplored with the aim of improving the situation
that the research strives to uncover.
In my own quest to improve my teaching through motivational elements, action
research fits the bill perfectly. Moreover, I hoped to justify the use of these
motivational strategies and review if they in fact did bring about positive changes and
improved the quality of learning and mobilized my students with a positive learning
attitude, increased involvement and participation in the classroom and in oral lessons,
increased interaction with peers and the teacher with on-task engagement and
ultimately, a movement toward ownership of participation in the classroom and selfmotivation. To this end, action research is perceived as befitting as it allows a review
of my current practice and identifies some area for change through gathering evidence
of results and reflection.
Two simple stages are offered by Cohen et al (2006:304) a diagnostic stage in
which the problems are analysed and the hypothesis developed and a therapeutic
stage in which the hypotheses are tested by a consciously directed intervention or
experiment in situ. On a parallel to my own case, the diagnostic stage was at the
beginning of the research when I became aware that motivational levels were falling
and participation in my lessons was sagging. The therapeutic stage entailed
interventions of motivational strategies involving teacher-language, topic content,
classroom ambience, scaffolding with comprehensible input, positive feedback,
acknowledgement and awards. Lewin (1946;1948) codified the action research
process into four main stages: planning, acting, observing and reflecting (Cohen et
al, 2006:304). Again, on a parallel, in my own study, the four stages can be
encapsulated as choosing strategies, lesson planning, implementation, gathering and

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analysing to make proper improvements in my own teaching practices.

3.1.2. Rationale for a Case Study
A case study is the study of a bounded system. By that, it could include a child, a
family, a class, a neighbourhood or community or even a fellowship of people
belonging to a clan or professional body. Case studies are about real people in reallife situations. Through their studies, people can understand through real contexts
and experiences of people how ideas and abstract principles can fit together (Nisbet
& Watt, 1984:72-73) cited in Cohen et al (2006:253), that a distinguishing feature of
case studies is that human systems have a wholeness or integrity to them rather than
being a loose connection of traitscontexts are unique and dynamic, hence case
studies investigate and report the complex dynamic and unfolding interactions of
events, human relationships and other factors in a unique instance (Sturman,
1999:103) both cited in Cohen et al (2006:253). Stake (1988:258) cited in Johnson
(2008) offers the case study is a study of a bounded system, emphasizing the unity
and wholeness of that system, but confining the attention to those aspects that are
relevant to the research problem at the time.
For research, case studies are valuable as there is no control over people and events
while the research is going on and all that is encountered and played out is rich and
vivid, genuine and unrehearsed with the participants and the researcher fully involved
in the research study. As Geertz (1973b) puts it: case studies strive to portray what
it is like to be in a particular situation, to catch the close up reality and thick
description of participants lived experiences of, thoughts and feelings of a situation
(Cohen et al, 2006:254). The turn of events, happenings and situations speak for
themselves and are directly reported as they are and as the results chronicle.
Case studies are best where people are involved, leaving behind numbers and
statistics but focusing on emotions, feelings and stories from the hearts and minds of
the people involved in the study. It extends to perceptions and personal perspectives
and therefore reveals some very personal insights that make them extremely valuable
sources for research study, adhering to the need for interpretive rather than
quantitative methods. Simons (1996) notes that case studies recognize the
contribution that a genuine creative encounter can make to new forms of
understanding education, regard different ways of seeing as new ways of
knowingwith an overriding interest in people (Cohen et al, 2006:254).
Case study literature suggests that there are three reasons why a researcher might
choose to frame a study as a case. First, Johnson (2008:76) states the purpose of a
case study is to describe the case in its context. Guided by a research question, a
researcher studies the case and those aspects of the environment that pertain to the
case and that shed light on the research question. Second, case-study methodology
is also an effective means of illuminating the ways that L2 learning and content
learning interact for younger students (Johnson (2008:79). Hawkins (1988) draws
on Vygotskys ZPD and scaffolding as the theoretical tenet for the case study of a
young group of students as does mine. Third, Johnson (2008:83) suggests:

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case-study methodology is flexible and is formulated to suit the purpose of

the study. Case studies are most often primarily qualitative, although they
often involve the quantification of some information. They are usually
primarily naturalistic, relying on the collection of naturally occurring
datacase studies are usually descriptive in that they describe phenomena, or
they may go beyond description to contextual or cultural interpretation.
Five key issues are encompassed in case-study research namely, the formulation of a
problem area, definition of the unit of study as an entity and its boundaries, datacollection approaches, analysis and the search for recurring patterns and
communication of the findings and experience in a report. This research, as a case
study, follows these five key aspects closely.
Case studies are significant as they inform the teacher what is happening in their own
classroom. As Verma & Beard (1981:184) cited in Bell (2010:32) state that case
hypotheses are hunches that the researcher has about the existence of relationship
between variables.
Case studies commence with a research question.
Methodological approaches usually entail naturalistic observation, elicited methods
such as interviews and the collection of questionnaires.

3.2

Research Participants

In this case study, the participants are in the same class, have the same English
teacher and have the same curriculum. They are an entity. Their viewpoints will be
valuable as they will be personal and telling of real facts and impressions. I
interviewed eight of the 26 participants and the interviews are analysed in Chapter 4.
The eight interviewees that were chosen were not done at random but with thought.
From the 26 participants that chose to take part in this research study, some were of
higher ability while others were low-ability students in English, a mixture of male and
female as well as some who showed a higher participation in the lessons than others,
some who were quieter in class (due to personality and learning styles) but were
academically superior than others. The eight interviewees are a cross-section of
male-female, higher-lower ability and a varied set of personalities who understand
and communicate adequately in English to be able to participate and face the
challenge of an interview in English. Notwithstanding, no stress or compulsion were
put on the interviewees to speak in English as another local teacher was at hand to
assist in case of need of interpretation. Undue consideration was given to the
participants of a private, safe, non-threatening venue as well as a convenient time.
Participants were encouraged to ask any questions for clarifications if needed and also
reminded that there was no compulsion to answer any questions if they felt threatened
or uncomfortable. They were told to take their time to answer questions and not be
rushed. Their answers or responses were not contained, directed or expected in any
way or form, they were told. Last but not least, the length of the interview was
around five minutes. These points were articulated to them not only because they
were minors but to uphold the integrity of the interviews.

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There is a need to address the cognitive aspect of the interview, ensuring that
the interviewer is sufficiently knowledgeable about the subject matter that she
or he can conduct the interview in an informed manner, and that the
interviewee does not feel threatened by lack of knowledge. That this is a
particular problem when interviewing children has been documented by
Simons (1982) and Lewis (1992), who indicate that children will tend to say
anything rather than nothing at all, thereby limiting the possible reliability of
the data. (Cohen et al, 2006:362)
It was also important to gauge and judge the maturity of the students as well as their
abilities to form opinions and respond appropriately to questions. This was important
to ensure data collected was usable and relevant to the research questions asked.
Apart from the basics such as informed consent, confidentiality, beneficence,
anonymity and non-maleficence as declared in Cohen et al (2006), there were
guidelines given such as the interviewer should inform the participant of the nature
or purpose of the interview, being honest yet without risking biasing responses, and
should strive to put the participant at ease (Tuckman, 1972), an interview follows an
unwritten script for interactions, the rules of which only surface when they are
transgressed. Hence the interviewer must be at pains to conduct the interview
carefully and sensitively (Kvale, 1996:125), being clear, polite, non-threatening,
friendly
and
personable,
to
the
point,
without
being
too
assertiverespectfulrapportlikely duration, nature and conduct and contents of
the interview, to give the respondent the opportunity to ask questions, to be sensitive
to any emotions in the respondenthandling the situation sensitively and
professionally and a need to address the interpersonal, interactional,
communicative and emotional aspects of the interviewcommunicate non-verbally,
by facial and bodily expressioninterestedbe adept at active listening. (Cohen
et al, 2006:362).
Further to this, it is important to keep the interview moving forwardbeing clear on
what one wishes to find out, asking those questions that will elicit the kind of data
sought, giving appropriate verbal and non-verbal feedback to the respondent during
the intervieweven considering when the interviewer should keep silent (Kvale,
1996:135). Continued in Cohen et al (2006:362), Whyte (1982) gives directiveness
in the conducting of such interviews as making encouraging noises, reflecting on
remarks made by the informantprobingintroducing a new topic. All this was
adhered to in order to elicit valuable, relevant, telling data that aids in answering the
research questions and obtaining data that would assist in understanding the
situational and motivational implications in an oral English classroom.
Table 2 is a brief tabulation of the participants aiming to show the breakdown into
components of their entities. This is done to facilitate an understanding of the
participants involved in the 8 interviews.

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3.3

Data Collected for the Study

3.3.1. The Operationalization of the Study

The study started with a simple set of questionnaires as a pre-cursor to the
implementation of the motivational strategies intended to be introduced. This set of
questionnaires allowed the researcher to understand motivational elements and levels.
This guided the implementations of appropriate motivational strategies.
Following this, a set of lesson plans (six altogether) were devised to introduce
different motivational strategies culled from aforementioned theorists and prompted
by the findings from the first questionnaire. (See Appendix 1-6 for lesson plans)
The six lessons covered a range of activities especially devised to monitor how the
students responded. The lessons included individual work, groupwork, oral
presentations, brainstorming activities, classwork grammar checking, project work
and a classroom oral game. The constant in these six recorded lessons were the
implementation of the motivational strategies whereas the variables were the different
types of activities that are usually part of the oral lessons.
After the recording of the six lessons, the participants completed another
questionnaire with more input and feedback given by them. The two questionnaires
were used for secondary data purposes. Finally, eight participants were selected to be
interviewed by the researcher and the data from these interviews became the primary
source of data for analysis and interpretation.
3.3.2. Instrumentation and Piloting
Two sets of questionnaires were used: one for pre-implementation of motivational
strategies and the other, post-implementation of strategies. At the same time, teacher
observation notes were also taken after each lesson and special occurrences or notable
events were also recorded. For example, students who were not habitually
participatory and did participate above my expectations were entered into the notes.
Lastly, interviews were conducted on a one-to-one basis with eight of the 26
participants.
3.3.3. Questionnaires
There were two occasions that questionnaires were administered and both of them
were in the presence of the researcher. This enabled any queries or uncertainties to be
answered and also saved time as the participants did not need to go to a particular
venue at a particular time. The questionnaires were conducted in the classroom and
as they were not lengthy, they were completed in one sitting: the first one was
completed between 5-10 minutes and the second, lengthier one, was completed within
15 minutes.
Questionnaires were chosen to be one form for data collection as they were not timeconsuming, could be done in one sitting simultaneously with the researcher looking
over and providing assistance if needed and were straightforward with choices for the
participants given. The language used was simple and care was taken not to use

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difficult words or to make sentences long and complicated. The first questionnaire
was done in March 2011. Wilson & McLean (1994) cited in Cohen et al (2006:317)
say the questionnaire is a widely used and useful instrument for collecting survey
information, providing structured, often numerical data, being able to be administered
without the presence of the researcher, and often being comparatively straightforward
to analyse.
The second questionnaire was more defining as it was divided into three sections.
The first part allowed the participants to mark the intensity with which they agreed
with statements, the second part was rank-ordering and the last part were open-ended
questions. The aim was to find out students perspectives on motivational strategies
and ranking them. Cohen et al (2006:325) states the rank ordering enables a relative
degree of preference, priority intensity to be charted. In the rank ordering exercise a
list of factors is set out and the respondent is required to place them in a rank order.
Although in Cohen et al (2006:325), it states that it is unrealistic to ask respondents
to arrange priorities where there are more than five ranks that have been requested
(Wilson & McLean, 1994:26), and the list in the questionnaire item can be reduced
to five items only, in which case the range and comprehensiveness of responses that
fairly catches what the respondent feels is significantly reduced, I had opted to put
eight items (instead of the suggested five) as I wanted to retain a more comprehensive
range of motivational elements.
For the part of the open-ended questions, I felt this was necessary. Cited in Cohen et
al (2006:321), open-ended questions are useful if the possible answers are unknown
or the questionnaire is exploratory (Bailey 1994:120). Furthermore, it states that
they also enable respondents to answer as much as they wish, and are particularly
suitable for investigating complex issues, to which simple answers cannot be
provided. More importantly, Oppenheim (1992:115) states therewith that closed
questions do not enable respondents to add any remarks, qualifications and
explanations to the categories, and there is a risk that the categories might not be
exhaustive and that there might be a bias in them although closed questions are
deemed to be quick to complete and straightforward to code and do not discriminate
unduly on the basis of how articulate respondents are (Wilson & McLean, 1994:21).
It was thus my intention to include open-ended questions as I believed my
respondents had the ability to articulate what was in their minds and to write openly.
3.3.4. Interviews
As Kitwood (1977) in Cohen et al (2006:349) declares that interviews are a potential
means of pure information transfer: if the interviewer does his job well and if the
respondent is sincere and well-motivated, accurate data may be obtained. Another
conception of the interview is that every transaction or exchange between persons
inevitably has bias and this fact needs to be recognized by all interviewers and control
over the ethics and workings of an interview need to be addressed. The last
conception is that the interview is a social encounter, not merely an endeavour to
collect data. As Walford (2001:90) remarks in Cohen et al (2006:350), interviewers
and interviewees co-construct the interview. This lends it life, flexibility and
spontaneity that make the data real, genuine and highly valuable. Therein lies the
main reason why the interview is perceived to be such an invaluable source for data
in this research study.

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Another reason why I chose interviews as a data-collecting mechanism is because of

its humanistic, social and personal qualities. Tuckman (1972) states in Cohen et al
(2006:351) that interviews, as a research technique serves three purposes laid down
by three different authorities by providing access to what is inside a persons
head, it makes it possible to measure what a person knows (knowledge or
information), what a person likes or dislikes (values and preferences) and what a
person thinks (attitudes and beliefs). It also may be used to test hypotheses or acts
as an explanatory device to track down factors as well as relationships among
variables, reasoning and certain human phenomena. Kerlinger (1970) states that
interviews might be used to follow up unexpected results or to validate other
methods, or to go deeper into the motivations of respondents and their reasons for
responding as they do.
Of the four main kinds of interviews that are conducted, I chose to conduct the semistructured interview with my eight participants. This kind of interview is more open,
flexible and spontaneous. As Kerlinger (1970) states that although the research
purposes govern the questions asked, their content, sequence and wording are entirely
at the hands of the interviewer. As Kerlinger (1970) further expresses open-ended
items have been succinctly defined as those that supply a frame of reference for
respondents answers, but put a minimum of restraint on the answers and their
expression as cited in Cohen et al (2006:355).
Furthermore, in my wording, I adhered to the principles set by Arksey & Knight
(1999) for the interviews to have simple vocabulary, avoidance of any prejudicial
language or personal negative connotations, precise language, sensitivity and giving
them a lot of time to think and then answer.
Transcriptions were also done of the interviews. Attention was paid not only to what
was said but also of the non-verbal aspects of the interview where body language,
gestures, facial expressions were all taken into account. As Mishler (1991:260) in
Cohen et al (2006:367) states data and the relationship between meaning and
language are contextually situated; they are unstable, changing and capable of endless
reinterpretation. It is therefore encouraged that transcriptions, though done, should
be accompanied by video recordings (if possible) so data analysers can read the
interactions as well as have a visual account of the exchange.
3.3.5. Observations
Observations are vital to any research as they piece together all the variables,
unwritten and non-verbal facets of the study together and include a capacity for
original thinking and the ability to spot significant events (Nisbet, 1977:15) by the
researcher, cited in Bell (2010:191). In fact, unstructured observations were begun
much before the action research cycles. The argument for unstructured observations
is encapsulated by what Punch (2005: 179-80) offers in Bell (2010:192-193):
The researcher does not use predetermined categories and classifications but
makes observations in a more open-ended waythe logic here is that
categories and concepts for describing and analyzing the observational data

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will emerge later in the research, during the analysis, rather than be brought to
the research, or imposed on the data, from the start.
Johnson (2008:86) confirms that observing natural communication in a school
settling, particularly oral or written interactions among students and between students
and teachers, is one of the most common and important data-collection techniques in
case studies.
3.3.6. Time Frames and Sequence
A time-table of the study was charted out. It started in March 2011 and ended in June
2011. Data analysis was completed by July 2011 and all eight interviews were
transcribed.
See Figure 5 for Action Research Time Frame.
3.3.7. Constraints on the Research
The planning and organization of the research may well be done but as far as
constraints on the research are concerned, three areas proved problematic. They are
time constraints, the participants and scheduling conflicts.
As far as time constraints were concerned, the timeframe of the research was slotted
in for around three months including questionnaires, second-round questionnaires and
interviews to be conducted. As is advised in Bell (2010:118), the extent of your data
collecting will be influenced by the amount of time you have. There is no point in
producing a grandiose scheme that requires a year and a team of researchers if you
are on your ownand in any case have to hand in the project report in three
months. This was precisely the case with this research and therefore a case study of
my own classroom involving 26 students with a timeframe of three months needed to
be smaller in scale.
In regard to the participants, there was a concern that they were not able to assimilate
what was being taught and done in the classroom, and cycles could have been delayed
due to that or at least, reconvened as and when the contents of the lessons were
understood and revised. This, fortunately, did not happen.
Last but not least, the action research cycles were proposed to be actualized between
March and June 2011. The implementations were to start in March and continue
through June although a large span of time for Easter break would cut in the actual
time available. Also, with a break of two weeks, there was a concern of continuity.
As motivational strategies were implemented and lessons specifically designed to
raise interest, it was a worry that the effect would diminish with the break. Due to
test and exam schedules of the participants, this was also the only time frame that
could accommodate such a research.
3.3.8. Ethical Issues and Ownership of the Research
Ethical issues were adhered to in the research as is protocol with all researches. As
the research was conducted in school with young students, consent forms were
requested to be filled out by the parents as well as the principal of the school.

- 25 -

Nothing was done until all consent forms, duly signed and with approval from the
principal and parents were collected. (see Appendices 7 & 8).
In Cohen et al (2006:52), informed consent is defined as the procedures in which
individuals choose whether to participate in an investigation after being informed of
facts that would be likely to influence their decision (Diener & Crandall, 1978).
This informed consent would entail the adherence of four basic principles throughout
the research. The first would be competence of the researcher and his awareness of
ethical issues extending over all aspects of the study including data collection,
findings, storage, reporting, anonymity and confidentiality of the participants and the
forthright reporting of the research to the public. The second principle would be total
voluntary participation by the students, in this case, with the option to refuse to take
part or withdraw at any time. The third principle would be full information with no
intent on deception, wrong representation, wilful and devious manipulation of data
and findings. The last principle is comprehension that the facts, the purpose of the
research and the objectives of the methodology be clearly, transparently and
categorically explained to the participants and their parents beforehand so there was
an awareness of the schedule throughout. As Cohen et al (2006:) puts it: ethical
considerations pervade the whole process of research; these will be no more so than at
the stage of access and acceptance, where appropriateness of topic, design, methods,
guarantees of confidentiality, analysis and dissemination of findings must be
negotiated with relative openness, sensitivity, honesty, accuracy and scientific
impartiality.
The consent and permission granted paved the way for the research to commence.
Informed consent is an important principle. It is this principle that will form the
basis of an implicit contractual relationship between the researcher and the researched
and will serve as a foundation on which subsequent ethical considerations can be
structured (Cohen et al, 2006: 53).
Moreover in the field of ethics, preserving human dignity by way of honestly
conducting the investigations, being responsible to participants in method, extraction
of data and information of the study is of prime importance. As Cavan (1977:810)
states of ethics, it is a matter of principled sensitivity to the rights of others, and that
where truth is good, respect for human dignity is better.
Anonymity and confidentiality of participants was of vital and prime importance.
Sapsford & Abbott (1996: 318-19) note that interviewing is intrusive, but having
your personal details splashed in indentifiable form across a research project is even
more intrusive and confidentiality is a promise that you will not be identified or
presented in identifiable form, while anonymity is a promise that even the researcher
will not be able to tell which responses came from which respondents (Bell,
2010:49).
As I, the researcher also has a responsibility towards the community and to the
reputation of research, I abided by all rules, adhering to correct and proper
procedures, good conduct, accurate and unbiased reporting, allowing data to be
available for checking, being truthful at all times, assuring the autonomy of the
research and not allowing it to be susceptible to any source of bias or pressure from
outside sources.

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3.3.9. Validity and Reliability

3.3.9.1. Definitions
Validity is worthiness in a research. It stands for credibility, accuracy and relevancy.
In Bell (2010:120), Sapsford & Jupp (1996) define it as the design of research to
provide credible conclusions and the evidence which the selecting methods of data
collection offers can bear the weight of interpretation that is out on it. In qualitative
data, validity might be addressed through the honesty, depth, richness and scope of
the data achieved, the participants approached, the extent of triangulation and the
disinterestedness or objectivity of the researcher (Winter, 2000).
There are many forms of validity and those relevant in this research study encompass
the validity of content, criteria, interpretation, theory and evaluation. Each aspect of
the prism of validity speaks towards the truth, relevance and the responsiveness
towards the objectives of the research.
Reliability in a research, according to Bell (2010:119), is expressed as the extent to
which a test or procedure produces similar results under constant conditions on all
occasions. Reliability is stability and surety in a research. It is a measure of
consistency and truth over time and over different forms of sampling. The method
brings forth data that are dependable, consistent and trustworthy. The methods would
bring about applicability, consistency with emphasis on transferability and
dependability.
3.3.9.2. Validity and Reliability in Interviews
As interviews are my primary source of data, it was important to adhere to the
principles of validity and reliability. Validity can be compromised by bias by the
interviewer an attitude, perception or even expectation of what the interviewees
should say and mean. It could also include the fact that the interviewee
misunderstands the question asked and does not seek any sort of clarification of the
questions and therefore gives an invalid answer to a question that was not asked in
the first place. All this constitutes bias. In Chapter 4, as I analyze the eight
interviews, I shall attempt to show a minimum amount of bias so as to interpret all
answers to the wordings and common inferences of the English language. I say,
minimum bias, as bias is always brought into the research by nature by both
researchers and participants, and it is the avoidance to fall into these traps of bias that
differentiate the valid researches from those that wreak of invalidity. The main
argument is that we should acknowledge bias as a qualitative researcher but we do
what we can to verify the data through triangulation.
Although all research data that are qualitative in nature are prone to judgment, it is
hence important to use other methods as well as primary ones to assure that the
findings are as they are unadulterated, precise and reflective of what was said.
3.3.10.

Triangulation

To cross-check findings and hence to use more than one method of data collection in
order to reaffirm results and conclusive data is triangulation. In other words, as

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expressed by Campbell & Fiske (1959), triangulation between methods involves the
use of more than one method in the pursuit of a given objective. As a check on
validity, the between methods approach embraces the notion of convergence between
independent measures of the same objective (Cohen et al, 2006:143).
In Bell (2010:118), Laws (2003) states that the key to triangulation is to see the same
thing from different perspectives and thus to be able to confirm or challenge the
findings of one method with those of another. It is like a safety net that allows the
findings through various different but appropriate methods to be used as data
collection sources and then to make sense of what the findings indicate. They may
seem to show one thing but with triangulation, that is the employment of more than
one type of research method, it will not seem to indicate but rather will verily point
to certain conclusions alike in all these methods. As Laws (2003:281) cited in Bell
(2010:118) puts it:
Accounts collected from different perspectives may not match tidily at all.
There may be mismatch and even conflict between them. A mismatch does
not necessarily mean that the data collection process is flawed it could be
that people just have very different accounts of similar phenomena. You need
to critically examine the meaning of any mismatches to make sense of them.
In my research, I have used personal observations, two sets of questionnaires and
eight interviews. These methods are used to triangulate the research, bring about
more data that can be matched against each other and to be analysed critically with
minimum bias. The validity and reliability of the whole research can thus be
safeguarded. As cited in Johnson (2008:90), Goetz and LeCompte (1984) point out
that triangulation prevents the researcher from relying on initial impressions, it helps
correct for observer biases, and it enhances the development of valid constructs
during the study. As Johnson (2008:90) states:
a high-quality analysis, whether quantitative, qualitative, or both, is one that
identifies important variables, issues, or themes, discovers how these
interrelationships influence the phenomena under study and offers fresh new
insights.

3.4

Methods of Analysis

3.4.1 Interview Questions

In order to conduct the interviews with consistent questions that reflected on the main
research questions of the study, a list of questions were prepared as a basis of
questions to be asked in order to have a dual purpose: to list out all answers by all 8
interviewees to the questions (which would be analysed) and to set the ball rolling
and hence allow any diversions or specificities to arise allowing more personal
insights, opinions and rich data to be gathered.

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Here is the list of questions that were prepared as prompts and topic-openers for the
interviews. They are followed by a table with corresponding tenets or positions
extracted from the research questions and theories on motivation. See Table 3
showing the correlation between questions and motivational factors).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Do you like English ? Why do / dont you like English ?

Do you like English lessons with Mr. Prakash ?
What part of the lesson do / dont you like best ?
What kinds of activities in the English oral lessons would you like more of ?
Why ?
Do people tell you that you are improving ? How do you feel when you
hear such praise ?
Do you think Mr. Prakash should praise students more ?
What more / what else can Mr. Prakash do to make English oral lessons
better, more interesting or enjoyable ?
Do you like rewards ? Do you like prizes ? Why ?
Of the three items (praise and rewards, games, interesting contents), which
would you place first, second or third in your choices of motivation ?
Would you care to add or say anything to Mr. Prakash about the English oral
lessons ?

It should be noted here that the order of the questions were not necessarily followed
nor were they necessarily included in all the interviews. As discussed before in
Chapter Three, interviews are personal interactions, unrehearsed, spontaneous and the
above framework of questions were designed to start the flow of communication and
to allow the participants to freely speak of what was asked of them and to probe
further into their responses rather than to follow a regiment of dictated questions.
Moreover, a more spontaneous line of questioning allowed more real, genuine and
authentic information to flow thus enrichening the data and making the findings more
reflective and relevant to the participants opinions, perspectives and experiences.
This is in line with what Kvale (1996:126-127) states in Cohen et al (2006:353-354):
interviews differ in the openness of their purpose, their degree of structure,
the extent to which they are exploratory or hypothesis-testing, whether they
seek description or interpretation, or whether they are largely cognitivefocused or emotion-focusedthe degree of structure in the interview to
generate numbers in respondents feelings about a given issue or to indicate
unique, alternative feelings about a particular matter.
As my interviews aimed to be exploratory of feelings and to welcome new and fresh
perspectives that the participants could share, I opted for unstructured interviews to
best suit my purposes for this study. Moreover, in Cohen et al (2006:354), Lincoln &
Guba (1985:269) state that:
the structured interview is useful when researchers are aware if what they do
not know and therefore are in a position to frame questions that will supply
the knowledge required, whereas the unstructured interview us useful when
researchers are not aware of what they do not know, and therefore, rely on the
respondents to tell them.

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Oppenheim (1992) argues:

the issue here is of fitness to purpose; the more one wishes to gain
comparable data across people, across sites the more standardized and
quantitative ones interview tends to become, the more one wishes to acquire
unique, non-standardized, personalized information about how individuals
view the world, the more one veers towards qualitative , open-ended,
unstructured interviewing. Indeed, this is true not simply of interviews but of
their written counterpart questionnaires.
3.4.2 Tools of Data Analysis
As prescribed in Cohen et al (2006:462),
Researchers should set out the main outlines of the phenomena that are under
investigation. They should then assemble blocks or groups of data, putting
them together to make a coherent whole (e.g. through writing summaries of
what has been foundmatching, contrasting, aggregating, comparingthe
intention is to move from description to explanation and theory generation
(LeCompte & Preissle, 1993:237-253).
Each interview will be analysed individually. Becker & Geet (1960) cited in Cohen
et al (2006:468) suggest that this preserves the coherence and integrity of the
individuals response and enables a whole picture of that person to be presented.
After completion of all eight interviews, follows comparing, matching the responses,
observed behaviour, calculating frequencies of occurrences and responses,
assembling (Becker & Geet, 1960).
Voice levels, facial expressions, body movements, etc. will all be noted as the
interview is a flexible tool for data collection, enabling multi-sensory channels to be
used: verbal, non-verbal, spoken and heard (Cohen et al, 2006:349). The researcher
therefore should not even miss a movement, sound, look, nuance or a speech tone
such as slurring, repetition, tonal inferences, volume or excitability that comes from
and through the interviewees. It is the researcher who sets the codes and categories
for analysis, be they pre-ordinate or responsive. It is the researchers agenda that
drives the research and the researcher who chooses the methodology (Cohen et al,
2006:469).
Twelve tactics, generated by Miles & Huberman (1994) in Cohen et al (2006:470) are
counting frequency of occurrence of ideas, themes, pieces of data, words, noting
patterns and themes, seeing plausibility (informed intuition to reach a conclusion),
clustering: setting items into categories, types, behaviours, classifications, bringing
data to life, identifying and noting relations between variables, building a logical
chain of evidence: noting causality and inferences, making conceptual / theoretical
coherenceto explain the phenomena.
Transcriptions of all eight interviews have been done (please see Appendices 9 to 16).
This is raw data from which all analysis will be done. It is also important for the
researcher to view each interview as an entity to listen for a sense of the whole. As
expressed by LeCompte & Preissle (1993:253) in Cohen et al (2006:472), the tools

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used would be analytic induction, constant comparison, typological analysis and

enumeration.
3.4.3 Content Analysis
Content analysis specifically defines the process of summarizing and reporting
written data the main contents of data and their messages (Cohen et al, 2006:473).
To add to this, Flick (1998) and Mayring (2004) attest that content analysis defines a
strict and systematic set of procedures for the rigorous analysis, examination and
verification of the contents of written data. Krippendorp (2004) defines it as a
research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts to the
contexts of their use. It was felt that it was suitable and recommendable to use this
process and therefore, interview transcriptions.
Content analysis could also take texts and analyses, reduces and interrogates them
into summary form through the use of both pre-existing categories and emergent
themes in order to generate or test a theory (Cohen et al, 2006:476). Content
analysis thus works as Ezzy (2002:81) reports:
starts with a sample of texts (the units), defines the units of analysis (words,
sentences) and the categories to be used for analysis, reviews the texts in order
to code them and place them into categories, and then counts and logs the
occurrences of words, codes and categories. From here statistical analysis and
quantitative methods are applied leading to an interpretation of results. Put
simply, content analysis involves coding, categorizing, comparingmaking
linksand concluding drawing theoretical conclusions from the text.
Anderson & Arsenault (1998:102) put this all in a nutshell: at its simplest level,
content analysis involves counting concepts, words or occurrences in documents and
reporting them in tabular form. Thus, the essential features are breaking down texts,
analysing the gathered statistics and reporting on the findings and interpreting the
summation as a whole pointing it or contrasting it with a set of theories, preconstructs or hypotheses.
The last part of summarizing the key concepts and ideas that these evidences bring
forth pinpoint and ascertain what the trend or realities of the situation is. It thus
culminates in finding a focus for the research and analysis, writing a qualitative
description or analysis, analysing the categories to identify where further clarification
and cross-clarification are needed, making inferences and speculations about
relationships, causes and effects (Patton, 1980).
Ultimately, at the end of the research, it is the speculative stage that is of the highest
importance. This is because it is the stage whereby the researcher moves from
description to inference and posits some form of implication or explanation that the
entire analysis produces.
In this chapter, I have outlined the methods that I used in my research and why they
were suitable for the kind of research that I did. In Chapter 4, I will analyze the data
from the interviews. The findings will produce indicators for answers for my
research questions and illustrate to what extent the motivational strategies introduced,

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raised motivational levels in my classroom. In Chapter 5, the implications of the

findings of the research will be examined.

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CHAPTER FOUR ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1

Introduction

This chapter provides a discussion of the key findings from the action research
project. As the eight case studies are the primary source of data, a qualitative report is
thus adopted to bring to life the findings of this research study. Analysis strategies for
this purpose of study as Johnson (2008:90) suggests is to examine the data for
meaningful themes, issues, or variables, to discover how these are patterned, and to
attempt to explain the patterns. Data analysis usually involves a continual process of
looking for meaning by sorting reiteratively through the data.

4.2.

The Case Study

In this section, I present the analysis and key findings from the data (interviews with
the students) to show how eight students from my class responded to the six action
research lessons. The aim is to highlight the eight students understanding of
motivation in the context of learning English in my classes. Prior to the actual
analysis of the transcriptions of the interviews, it should be noted that in qualitative
data analysis, interpretation and analysis are fused and concurrent. It is nave to
suppose that the qualitative data analyst can separate analysis from interpretation,
because words themselves are interpretations and are to be interpreted. Further, texts
themselves carry many levels of meaning, and the qualitative researcher has to strive
to catch these different levels or layers (Cohen et al, 2006: 495).
4.2.1. Kylies Understanding of Motivation (The First Interview)
Kylie is a student who has been observed as being driven by many intrinsic
motivational elements such as enjoyment of the subject, knowing the importance of
the language, the desire to learn more all resulting in her active albeit quiet
participation in class. Her style is one of reticence but attentiveness and her academic
results are telling of someone who pays attention in class, has the self-motivation to
improve herself on a very consistent basis. (See Appendix 9 for full transcription of
interview).
4.2.1.1. English is Important and Useful
Kylie expresses that she likes English very much. The reason she gives is the
acknowledgement that it is important and that it is easy to learn. Yes, I like English
very much because English is important and its very easy to learn (line 10). When
asked if she knows if English is useful, she answers in the affirmative and gives the
reason why. Yes, because we sometimes can play games in the English lesson and
we can also learn many English (line 15). When asked if she feels bored, what
would she do and she replies that she would continue to pay attention in class (lines
103-105) shows her motivation is intrinsic and is derived from enjoyment of the
lessons. This is confirmed by her when she says because there is something
important thing there for us to hear and learn in the lesson (line 109).

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4.2.1.2. English is Easy and Enjoyable

Kylie feels motivated because she also finds English easy and therefore enjoyable. I
feel English is easier than Chinese so we can learn the English and enjoy the English
very much (lines 16-17). The enjoyment she attributes to playing games in the
classroom because we sometimes can play games in the English lesson (line 14).
She also derives enjoyment from story books and explains I like the story book in
the English lesson and the English book is fun too. Its not only teach English but
also General Studies (lines 24-25). She substantiates this by giving an example of
drama in class. Sometimes, Mr. Prakash will act the characters and the people in the
book and I think it is good for us because we can learn the feelings (lines 50-51).
Asked if she would like more drama in class, she replied yes to both the teacher
acting more and using more facial expressions. Of the three motivating elements
asked of her at the end of the interview, it is playing more games (line 117) that
takes first place showing that enjoying the lesson is a strong motivating force.
4.2.1.3. Praise as Motivation
Another motivating element was praise. When asked about her feelings on being
praised, Kylie replied I feel it is good because the people will know who, who we
can learn from, and we can also teach other children (lines 69-70). Praise, according
to Kylie, promotes self-improvement as she suggests in line 72, because we can
improve by ourselves. Kylie confirmed too that she likes all kinds of feedback.
4.2.1.4. Relationship and regard of the Teacher
Kylies awareness of the teacher is also evident when she says I feel Mr. Prakash is
good because he is care, he cares about us and I feel that I can do more (lines 78-79).
She feels she can do more this can be interpreted that she is motivated to do more in
class because she feels her English teacher cares about her and her classmates. She
confirms this when asked by saying yes to the question can you feel that Mr.
Prakash cares for us, do you feel that ? Yes (lines 80-81). She even gives an
example to illustrate this by saying just like sometimes if you are not happy but you
must come to our class and take care of us and if you promise to play games, you play
games with us (lines 84-86). This clearly shows her awareness of the teachers
commitment and she feels motivated by it as a result. When asked what more the
teacher could do in class to make her feel happier or more involved, she replied I
think he can do more activities such as playing games and act and do English and I
think you can teach quicker (lines 94-96). She is motivated by playing games with
the teacher and feels she can learn more if he teaches quicker.
4.2.2. Katrina's Understanding of Motivation (The Second Interview)
Katrina is another very intrinsically motivated student who enjoys learning and has a
desire to learn a variety of topics and areas. Her keen participation, attentiveness and
interaction in class indicate that. She is mature, thoughtful and understands the
importance of English both as an international language and as a subject that, in
school, will help her with her future academic aspirations. (See Appendix 10 for full
transcription of interview).

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4.2.2.1. English is Important and Useful

Katrina acknowledges she likes English and that it is important citing reasons for it
being an international language (line 8) inferring its importance and usefulness.
This is further shown by her reply and when we go out to work, we must use
English (line 9). She cites an example of the items learnt in English in class as being
useful by saying when we check the workbookwhen we check the book carefully,
we have questions about grammar and vocabulary, it is very useful (lines 19-21).
4.2.2.2. English is Fun
In lines 9-10, she states I think English is fun and easy because if you think it is
difficult, you cannot get high marks in the exam. Her attitude of the language plays
an important role in her motivation.
4.2.2.3. Scaffolding and Support
She explains that English is not difficult and adds because my father speaks English
and my sister, well her English is very good and when I have questions, I ask them
(lines 12-13). This motivates her as she has the support of her father and sister. This
is a form of scaffolding for her and the support assists her from getting from one point
to the next just as Vygotskys Theory of ZPD suggests. The motivating agent of
scaffolding is shown here through her father and sister. She further affirms the
scaffolding she receives in school by saying I can ask questions and my friends can
help me solve my problem (lines 15-16).
4.2.2.4. Praise as Motivation
Asked about asking very good questions in class and thus being praised by the
teacher, Katrina replies I dont mind when you say that because if I have a question,
I will ask the question and when I ask the teacher, everyone will learn more (lines
27-28). When she receives praise, Katrina feels it is helpful as it allows all her
classmates to learn more from the questions she asks. Praise, here I infer, is not the
motivating element to her. What she feels more important is when she asks questions
in class, the answers furnished by the teacher benefits everyone in class. However,
when I specifically asked her if she were praised, would it make her more interested
and want to do even better, she replied yes, I think it is very important for children
and we are always interested to learn more (lines 31-32). She agrees praise is a
motivator and does propel motivational levels as it makes learners more interested to
learn more.
4.2.2.5. Interest as a Motivator
Asked if interest was important to her, she replied yes. When asked what makes her
sit alert and pay attention, her reply was Its because the lesson is interesting and I
like to learn. I want to know more and other areas too (lines 38-39). Her intrinsic
motivation makes her curious and interested and the contents of the topic piques that
interest and again motivates her to be alert and to learn more. When asked to rate her
preference from three motivating elements, she picks interest to be the first. In line
46, she says I think it will be the interesting topic because I will be interested. Her

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advice to the interviewer (teacher) on how to make students more interested in

lessons was maybe more topics without thewithout the book, knowledge in the
book, we can learn by ourselves but I think the teacher can teach us more (lines 5456). This can be interpreted as her zest for learning is wide, she advises the teacher to
teach more topics outside the curriculum and to choose topics of interest so as to
pique the interest of the students in the classroom. She replies yes both times to a
clarification when I ask so youd like me to teach you more from outside the
textbook ? Then youll feel more interested ? (lines 57-60).
4.2.3. Steven's Understanding of Motivation (The Third Interview)
Steven is a very active and participatory member in my class, always showing
readiness to answer, inquire and comment on anything in class such as proposals,
ideas, opinions and is very outspoken during his engagement in lessons. He is neither
shy nor passive and is perceived therefore to enjoy speaking English as well as
writing. He is intrinsically motivated and has a desire to learn more especially on
topics and areas outside the school curriculum. Although his academic work is
average, his participation levels have been extremely high in the classroom showing
self-motivation, involvement and acquires a great deal of enjoyment in learning the
language. (See Appendix 11 for full transcription of interview).
4.2.3.1

English is Easy

Steven likes English and he cites a few examples of why he finds it easy by saying I
like English lessons best because I like English very much because English is easy to
know the meaning (lines 10-11). He further states that because I think English is
easy tolike when we write the writing in English is easy to write more than
sometimes have some we need to write more than eighty to hundred words maybe we
can write more than a hundred words (lines 17-20). He finds he can easily write
more than the assignments require.
4.2.3.2. English is Fun
He also cites the fun aspects of speaking English by saying and I think English is fun
because sometimes we can play games and we can talk to all the English teachers in
the school (lines 12-14). He finds speaking English fun as he answers yes with a
nod (line 15). He enjoys the lessons and cites another example of the kind of
activities he likes: read some English ERS [Extensive Reading Scheme] in the
lessons and after we read the ERS books then maybe make some question sheet
following (lines 29-31). He replies affirmative to liking stories.
4.2.3.3. Praise as Motivation
When asked how praise makes him feel, he answers I like more Englishlike Mr.
Prakash say that today we are good and then we can will be more better than after we
hear, they will improve their English (lines 38-41). He states that praise to children
makes them want to do better and motivates them to improve their English.

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4.2.3.4. Interest as a Motivator

Steven finds interest as a prime motivator as he chooses his first preference when
asked to rank which motivating element he likes best. He says I would like to
choose stories Number One because maybe we can learn more English and English
ERS more than textbooks (lines 48-49). He finds stories interesting and valuable as
a learning vehicle in class as he feels he learns more from these sources than the
textbooks. He adds when asked what can make the lessons more interesting, maybe
we can play something we can learn English but its also interesting, you dont think
it will be boring and some children dont like English maybe after he plays this thing
and they will think English is fun (lines 54-56). This indicates that interesting
games and topics raises motivational levels even in children who would normally not
be interested.
4.2.4. Liams Understanding of Motivation (The Fourth Interview)
Liam is an average student but one of the most participatory in my lessons. He has a
very extroverted personality, always ready to be the class clown, full of classroom
theatrics and I gather, a very active and personable student. He is motivated by
games and drama, not only enjoys learning but takes pleasure in learning new things.
He is not easily bored and persists in his participation in class in order to engage
himself in the goings-on in the classroom. In that way, he is very self-motivated
which again indicates his motivation is of an intrinsic nature. When I asked him if he
was equally participatory and ready to take part in all kinds of lessons, he replied of
course, yes (lines 30 & 33). Even in lessons he feels are boring, he states I will
take part too (line 40). (See Appendix 12 for full transcription of interview).
4.2.4.1. English is Important and Useful
I stated the interview by asking him if he liked English to which he replied yes,
because our English teacher, you always teach us something important and its very
useful (lines 9-10). When asked about his high participation in class, he replies
because I want you to teach us something we cannot learn outside and we can easy
know what that things meanshow to make each sentence better (lines 24-26). This
indicates again of his understanding that English is important.
4.2.4.2. Praise as Motivation
When he is praised in front of all his classmates, he tells me I feel proud of myself
(line 15). To investigate what he meant as far as praise was given, I asked him if I
stopped praising him, would he continue to be interested or would his interest in
lessons stop to which he replied maybe, stop (line 19) indicating that praise is a
motivating element for Liam. He reaffirms this in line 22 by saying yes.
4.2.4.3. Interest as a Motivator
He was asked to give suggestions to the teacher to make lessons more interesting to
which he replied you can use the game to teach the English and take story books can
make know more inside the story (lines 44-45) indicating that his interest lies in
games and stories and these would propel his motivation in class. Drama is another

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agent for motivating Liam and when asked if there is more acting in the lesson, how
would the lesson be, his answer is interesting (line 53). He even chooses more
acting (line 61) as his first choice in making the lessons more interesting for him.
4.2.4.4. Demotivating Element
When he was given three choices to choose what motivated him in class, he came up
with his own answer and claimed it was a demotivating agent. Oh, the third one can
is.new oneI just thinkteach quickly (line 67). The pace of the lesson when it
is too slow demotivates Liam. Although he states that teaching too fast is not a good
idea as children cannot learn properly, he insists no need very quickly but also no
very slow (line 73).
4.2.5. Kateys Understanding of Motivation (The Fifth Interview)
Katey is a fun-loving student with high participation in class. She enjoys learning
and has a positive relationship with learning English. She does not enjoy the
academic side of the language and does get into trouble quite frequently with me
when she is unable to hand in her assignments. Her motivation is intrinsic in that she
acknowledges that learning is important but prefers to learn it through games. (See
Appendix 13 for full transcription of interview).
4.2.5.1. Learning as a Motivating Force
Katey enjoys speaking English and is motivated by learning more of the language and
using it. This is indicated by her reply to whether she likes English lessons in school.
She replies I like because I can speak more about EnglishI like the English lesson
because when I learn from the English lesson, I can learn many things about the every
life more (lines 12-14). She enjoys games and explains why by saying I like the
play gameswhen I play games, I can learn something (lines 16-17). When asked
to choose her first preference as a motivating element, she replies learning
something (line 45). When asked to clarify this, she explains because although I
like playing games, I wish to study more because we are in Primary Six now (lines
47-48) and adds playing games is fine too because we can learning something too
(line 49).
4.2.5.2. English is Enjoyable
To her, games provide an enjoyment of the lesson. I also can enjoy the game (lines
16-17). To make the lessons more interesting, she answers you can add some fun
words and be happy (line 32). Adding fun words or making the lesson more
enjoyable is a high motivator for Katey. She adds playing games is fun (line 36).
4.2.5.3. Praise as Motivation
Asked about how she feels when she is praised, she replied Im happy the teacher
canpraise me and when I go out to answer the question, Im very proud. (line 25).
This indicates praise is a motivating factor for Katey.

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4.2.5.4. Scaffolding as a Motivating Agent

As Katey is a student with high participation, she always raises her hands in class and
is often called out to give an answer. She is usually provided assistance (scaffolding)
and meets success from time to time. She speaks about this in response to her high
participation in class and replied when I go out to answer the question, Im very
proud. I can learn something and I can speak to other knowledge people (lines 2426). Scaffolding and success in the classroom motivates Katey and keeps her
participation in class continually high.
4.2.5.5. Demotivating Elements
Conversely, as she is very poor in spelling and dictation, when she is unable to spell a
word and meets failure in that sense, it demotivates her. This can be inferred by her
statement when Mr. Prakash ask me to spell the word, I cant remember, I think it is
boring (lines 29-30).
4.2.6. Maxwells Understanding of Motivation (The Sixth Interview)
Maxwell is a cheerful and affable student and well-liked by his peers. His disposition
is always positive and he smiles very often in class. His relationships with others are
important to him and he acquires satisfaction and enjoyment from interacting with
others. His motivating forces in the classroom are his relationship with his teachers,
topics and contents as he likes to learn more and have fun by playing games which he
says are enjoyable. His motivation is more of an intrinsic kind although extrinsic
forces also provide motivation to him, such as praise. (See Appendix 14 for full
transcription of interview).
4.2.6.1.

Relationships with Others as a Motivating Element

I started by asking Maxwell if he liked English and his answer was I really love the
subject English because there are many foreigner teachers and NET teachers and their
English is natural so they teach us very well (lines 11-12) adding many school
children enjoy English lessons so I really enjoy with them (lines 13-14). The activity
theory developed by Vygotsky and other sociocultural theorists such as Leontiev
(1981); Lantolf & Appel (1994); Zinchenko (1995) all try to make sense of both
individual and collaborative behaviour and motivation within its socio-cultural setting
(Mitchell & Myles, 2004:198). I then asked Maxwell to give me an example of an
activity he enjoyed and he replied Group Discussion (line 18). When asked why he
enjoyed this particular activity, he stated because many people join this group
discussion (line 20) adding all enjoy the discussion and they enjoy it very much
and make so much discussion so its really enjoyable (lines 21-22). My inference is
that Maxwell enjoys learning with others in particular the interactive and
communicative aspects of lesson activities.
His relationship to his teacher also raises his motivational levels. After receiving
praise from the teacher and asked what he feels, he answers I will just pay more
attention and just want to make Mr. Prakash happy and I want to improve myself.
Because Mr. Prakash have spent so much time for me and I wont let him down
(lines 43-45). He further states later in the interview his reasons for performing better

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in class as I will be better and work hard in Mr. Prakashs lessons because I want to
make teachers happy so this is important so I want to do that (lines 67-68).
4.2.6.2.

Contents as a Motivator

When asked about his high participation in class, he answers attraction (line 27).
Probing into what he means by attraction, he says topicsand the contents (line
30). He nodded when I asked if contents and topic were very important. Games also
provides motivation and Maxwell suggests gamesI like Hangman game, thats so
much fun (lines 49-50). Maxwell ranks topic and contents as his first preference and
adds its useful so this would be very important (line 62).
4.2.6.3.

Praise as Motivation

When asked how receiving praise makes him feel, he answered I feel very happyI
can take care of myself and help my mum do the housework (lines 38-29). His
sense of achievement is highlighted when he is praised. When asked about what the
effect of praise on him is, he replied I will just more pay attentionI want to really
improve myself (lines 43-44).
4.2.7. Claras understanding of motivation (the seventh interview)
Clara is a diligent student always obtaining high grades in all her subjects. She is
quiet and attentive in class as well as an able writer and speaker of the language when
these skills are called for. Her motivation stems from intrinsic factors such as love of
learning, knowing the usefulness and importance of English and that it is her
responsibility as a student to work hard and improve herself which are all selfmotivating elements. (See Appendix 15 for full transcription of interview).
4.2.7.1.

English is Fun

Clara enjoys English lessons as she thinks they are fun. She added I like English
because I think English is fun and the teacher teach us very well and the teacher must
play games with us and this is fun (lines 9-10). She reiterates that games are her
favourite activity in lessons by saying I like is playing games because play games,
we can learn English, we can play with friends and it is lovely (lines 12-13). I
think playing games is one (line 28) indicating her first choice amongst motivating
elements.
4.2.7.2. English is Important
Claras learning style indicates that she acknowledges that English is important. She
explains I think learning English is pay attention, not so much speaking is okayId
like to listen and drop down some answers only (lines 17 & 20). As she is
intrinsically motivated, she explains I think English is important so I will work hard
(line 49). Her earlier statement I can learn English from the teacher and the students
can learn too (lines 42-43) also indicate her acknowledgement that English is
important.

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4.2.7.3. Praise as Motivation

When given praise, she replied I felt very proud of myself (line 40) adding I can
learn English from the teacher and the students can learn too (lines 42-43) when
asked if it raises her interest in English. Praise, however, is not so important to her.
When asked about the importance of praise to her, she replied I think its not
important because learning well is my responsibility (line 46). This clearly shows
her motivation is of an intrinsic nature.
4.2.7.4. Demotivating Element
Answering the question as to how the teacher can make lessons more interesting for
her, she replied I know Mr. Prakash teaches well but can check the answers more
faster (lines 53-54). The slow pace of the lesson can make it demotivating for Clara
and she replies the affirmative when asked for clarification to teach a little faster, is
it ? (line 56).
4.2.8. Marias Understanding of Motivation (The Eighth Interview)
Maria has always been observed as a mature and precocious student. She is
intrinsically motivated as evidenced by her ideas of responsibility, importance of
English, its usefulness and the drive to learn, improve and to be exposed to more of
the language. Her motivation is reflected in her academic performance as well as her
above-average participation in class whereby she is always attentive, interactive but
not overly boisterous. (See Appendix 16 for full transcription of interview).
4.2.8.1. English is Useful
Asked why she likes English lessons, Maria replied because English is fun and
useful in the world and I think English maybe more useful than other languages
(lines 7-8). Her comparison of Englishs usefulness with other languages prompts me
to infer that she regards English highly and its usefulness relevant in the world.
Questioned if she liked speaking English, she gave the answer Yes, because I can
improve my English (line 13) again indicating its usefulness.
4.2.8.2.

English is Fun and Interesting

She acknowledges English is fun (line 7) and adds learn more English is funny and
some of the English games are interesting (lines 10-11). Her favourite part of the
lesson as she says I enjoy playing games most because playing games can make
more fun in the lesson and can.in the games, we can also learn English and many
students also enjoy it very much (lines 15-17). She suggests say the thing is
interestingwe can watch some DVDs or play more games to learn English (lines
34-35) when asked how to make the lessons more interesting. She reiterates that to
make lessons interesting, you can tell some interesting thingsmaybe say
something to the students, maybe they will feel the English is more fun that the other
subjects (lines 51-53) this suggests that her idea of motivation is derived from fun
and interesting contents in the lessons.

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4.2.8.3.

Praise as Motivtion

Her reply to whether praise is a motivating element to her indicates it is not. She
states No, because II just want to learn more English (line 26). She does,
however, agree that it is a motivating agent for others by adding but I know some
students will likesome students will from the praise, will learn more and enjoy
English (lines 27-28).
4.2.8.4.

Demotivating Element

She does voice out that as a suggestion to the teacher dont always angry or shout at
someone (line 32) which indicates that an angry disposition by the teacher is
demotivating for her, or others. Her reasons are clear when she states because you
shout at them and then maybe they will feel very fright and sad and dont want to
learn English (lines 44-45). Her advice towards that is you could talk to them and
tell them in friendly and them tell not to do again (lines 46-47). This suggests that a
friendly and amicable disposition by the teacher is a motivating source in the
classroom.

4.3

Conclusion: Key Findings from the 8 Case Studies

On reviewing the eight interviews, many similarities could be found. Some were
more prominent than others and they will be discussed in this section. Demotivating
elements were also mentioned and these will be discussed in the last section. For the
lessons that were recorded where the motivational elements were present, please see
Enclosure 1 for recordings of Oral Lessons and Enclosure 2 for recording of the
interviews.
4.3.1. Motivating Elements mentioned by All Participants
All participants acknowledged that praise was a motivating force in the lessons.
Although a few of them felt that praise did not play a big part in their own motivation,
they did acknowledge that other students would be motivated by praise. Yes, I think
it is very important for children and we are always interested to learn more (Katrina,
lines 31-32), but I know some students will likesome students will from the praise,
will learn more and enjoy English (Maria, lines 27-28) and like Mr. Prakash say
that today we are good and then we can will be more better than after we hear, they
will improve their English (Steven, lines 38-41).
English being fun and enjoyable was also acknowledged by all eight participants.
Some even mentioned the activities that they most enjoyed and this again propelled
motivational levels. I like the story book in the English lesson and the English book
is fun too. Its not only teach English but also General Studies(Kylie, lines 24-25)
and I think English is fun because sometimes we can play games and we can talk to
all the English teachers (Steven, lines 12-14). Providing a source of fun in lessons is
therefore imperative to motivation. This enjoyment can also be linked to interest and
contents of the lesson that makes that lesson interesting. The contents or topic of
the lesson could be in the form of a game, a competition which would provide
enjoyment as I could see how receptive these forms of activities were, from my

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observations. All enjoy the discussion and they enjoy it very much and make so
much discussion so its really enjoyable (Maxwell, lines 21-22), take story books
can make know more inside the story (Liam, lines 44-45) and you can tell some
interesting thingsmaybe say something to the students, maybe they will feel the
English is more fun that the other subjects (Maria, lines 51-53).
Games were highlighted as a fun, enjoyable and highly motivating activity for the
participants. In their own way, the participants react to games in a positive way and
the engagement that games allow increases motivational levels. Some of the positive
comments particularly about games were we sometimes can play games in the
English lesson and we can also learn many English (Kylie, line 15), you can use the
game to teach the English (Liam, line 14), I like is playing games because play
games, we can learn English, we can play with friends and it is lovely (Clara, lines
12-13) and I also can enjoy the game (Katey, lines 16-17).
4.3.2. Other Motivating Forces in the Classroom
The relationship of the teacher and the environment created by the teacher in the
classroom was also expressed as a motivating factor. Teachers can make a positive
contribution to students motivation to learn if classrooms are places that students
enjoy coming to because the content is interesting and relevant to their age and level
of ability, the learning goals are challenging, yet manageable and clear, and the
atmosphere is supportive (Lightbrown & Spada, 2006:64). Several references by
the participants are noted here that highlight this motivating factor. I feel Mr.
Prakash is good because he is care, he cares about us and I feel that I can do more
(Kylie, lines 78-79), because our English teacher, you always teach us something
important and its very useful (Liam, lines 9-10), I really love the subject English
because there are many foreigner teachers and NET teachers and their English is
natural so they teach us very well (Maxwell, lines 11-12) and just want to make Mr.
Prakash happy and I want to improve myself. Because Mr. Prakash have spent so
much time for me and I wont let him down (Maxwell, lines 44-45).
Scaffolding and thereby bringing about successes in the classroom also provides a
deep sense of achievement to students. As Donato (1994:41) is cited in Mitchell &
Myles (2004:197), scaffolded performance is a dialogically constituted
interpsychological mechanism that promotes the novices internalization of
knowledge co-constructed in shared activity. The motivation derived by successrelated instances can be reflected in the participants acknowledgements such as
when I go out to answer the question, Im very proud. I can learn something and I
can speak to other knowledge people (Katey, lines 24-26), I can ask questions and
my friends can help me solve my problem (Katrina, lines 15-16) and I can learn
English from the teacher and the students can learn too and (Clara, lines 42-43).
.
The relevance and interest-causing curriculum or activity was also cited to be a
motivator for these participants. Gardner & Lambert (1972) had coined the terms
instrumental motivation and integrative motivation largely meaning the practical
pursuits of language learning and learning for personal growth and cultural
enrichment (Lightbrown & Spada, 2006:64). Instances of both kinds of motivation
were prevalent amongst the participants. For the instrumental-motivated participants,
references such as I wish to study more because we are in Primary Six now (Katey,

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line 48) showing immediacy, useful in the world and I think English maybe more
useful than other languages (Maria, line 8) and and when we go out to work, we
must use English (Katrina, line 9). For the integratively-motivated participants, such
utterances are noteworthy: like when we write the writing in English is easy to write
more (Steven, lines 17-18) and Its because the lesson is interesting and I like to
learn. I want to know more and other areas too (Katrina, lines 38-39).
The intrinsic motivation that created interest in the language was prevalent among the
participants. In the local context of Hong Kong, this interest in the language can be
attributed to their acknowledgement of the English language itself being important,
useful and beneficial in their learning. The inferences made to this are from the
following: Yes, I like English very much because English is important (Kylie, line
10), I think English is important so I will work hard (Clara, line 49) and from
Katrina who even called it an international language (line 8). The interest also
stems from their joy of learning the language which is also intrinsically motivated
I like the English lesson because when I learn from the English lesson, I can learn
many things about the every life more (Katey, lines 13-14) and yes, I think it is very
important for children and we are always interested to learn more (Katrina, lines 3132).
4.3.3. Demotivating Elements
There were instances where demotivating factors or elements were communicated.
They are noteworthy as the eradication of demotivating elements can propel
motivational levels to even higher levels. One demotivating factor was the slow pace
of the teaching resulting in boredom in the classroom. This was reflected by a
suggestion from Liam teach quickly (line 67) and no need very quickly but also no
very slow (line 73). The same point was mentioned by another participant I know
Mr. Prakash teaches well but can check the answers more faster (Clara, lines 53-54).
Another demotivating element brought to my attention was the disposition of the
teacher. Suggestions about being friendly and avoiding shouting at students were
indicative of how demotivating these were. Dont always angry or shout at someone
(Maria, line 32) to which she suggested you could talk to them and tell them in
friendly and them tell not to do again (Maria, lines 46-47).
Lack of scaffolding is another demotivating factor illustrated through Katey who said
when Mr. Prakash ask me to spell the word, I cant remember, I think it is boring
(lines 29-30). The word boring I infer means demotivating as boring indicates a
sense of loss of interest and could, in this context, mean demotivating as Katey loses
her sense of achievement. The instance of failure can be attributed to the lack of
scaffolding as spelling was not scaffolded in any lessons.
4.3.4. Summary of Findings
There are many similarities in the eight interviews. The most prominent one is that
they are intrinsically motivated. Their interest is from within they enjoy learning
and using the language and they enjoy learning things from even outside the
curriculum. They find English useful and important and this adds to their motivation
for learning. They all like playing games as the satisfaction experienced from

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enjoyment is similar. They are competitive and games and competitions bring out
elevated levels of motivation in them. From my observations and from a few
instances in the recorded lessons (see Appendix OO), they implore me to play games
with them more often and the boisterousness of their calls are proof of their
enjoyment of such activities. They like being praised and it motivates them to work
harder, try more and participate in a more involved way. Although praise is not a
dominant factor in all of them, they acknowledge that it motivates others in the
classroom. Successes in the classroom are also springboards to higher motivational
levels and the scaffolding that is available to them is of high importance to the
production of these levels of motivation.
The observations made by me also confirm that they are self-motivated and are ready
to communicate, jump in and be part of whatever activity they are introduced to. The
wide range of activities suggested by them range from books, games, drama,
competitions, stories and questions and quizzes. Although from a sociocultural
perspective, classrooms are considered important settings for development
comprising varied activities, which are created through classroom discourse, that is,
the oral interaction that occurs between teachers and students and among students
(Hall & Verplaetse, 2000) as cited in Katyal et al (2005:246), it should be noted too
that:
Due to theoretical shifts in perspectives on learning and instruction,
conceptualizations of classroom interaction have been transformed from an
emphasis on structured discourse patterns to seeing interaction as dynamic
teaching and learning conversations, which emphasize students participating
in social learning (Kumpulainen & Wray, 2002).
The motivational levels that are garnered by means of these interactional and varied
activities spell out that more of these activities need to be included on a continually
frequent basis. The findings from the data from the interviews indicate this. In the
six lessons recorded for the action research study, these activities producing
interaction, mediation and negotiation were all present and the findings show that the
implementations of motivational strategies towards this end produced such results and
motivational levels. The pilot questionnaires and post-questionnaires are also
indicative of the same findings and they are discussed at length in Appendix 19.

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CHAPTER FIVE IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION

5.1.

Limitations of the Research

Before any research is carried out, there is a planning stage clarifying questions
involving research size, methodology and its feasibility, reliability of collected data
and its proper interpretation and use and how the research answers the research
questions posed at the start that activate the action research.
As this research was a case study, there is always a doubt about reliability of
interpretation of data and how it answers the research questions. Understandably, the
results are the reflection of this group of participants feelings and opinions.
However, a researcher always seeks to validate ones research if the findings can
translate and transfer to other similar cases and therefore be of relevance to other
researchers.
As the participants were young and as the research was conducted fully in English
their second language there is always a tendency for questions to be misconstrued,
or the importance of an area of enquiry to be undermined therefore resulting in data
that does not truly reflect the opinions of the participants or are construed to mean
something other than what was inferred. Language was therefore kept simple and a
lot of vocabulary was not introduced to the young participants to avoid ambiguity and
miscomprehension. Questionnaires were also kept short and simplistic limiting the
extent and depth of the research.
The time frame was also a factor. As the action researchs duration was four months,
it was a bit rushed and compressed into a short period of time. Exams and presecondary assessments were also scheduled around that time by the school and as
there were only twelve English Oral lessons for implementations of research cycles,
the rapid pace in which the research was conducted was not ideal. Additionally, the
instances and time of participation per class period, frequency of speech by students
as well as increased oracy in class could have been recorded to provide more
substantial data to the study. Each motivational strategy would then have been
introduced and the corresponding results for each one recorded, analysed and then
compared. This could have brought deeper implications to the research questions and
translate more revealing data as far as each of the motivating strategies were
concerned.
Perhaps the biggest limitations to the study were the interviews which were the
primary source of data. In hindsight, I would have asked more specific questions
such as what kinds of contents they would like to learn (when they mentioned
contents and topics outside the curriculum) if not immediately in the interviews then
at least in the final questionnaire to obtain some concrete ideas. Another line of
questioning that I should have probed was games. In the questionnaires, I would have
made a short list of games played previously in the classroom and asked them to rank
their three favourite ones in order to give specificity to the answers. On reviewing the
interviews, more open-ended questions would have been used and a balance of turntaking could have been established. There are some instances in the interviews where
I feel I almost gave them the answer and merely asked them whether this was what

- 46 -

they meant to which they can be seen agreeing, nodding or replying with a simple
yes. The clarifications were necessary but that did not allow the participants a
chance to speak or articulate the actual idea that they wanted to put forth. Also, the
question where I asked them to rank their choices would have been a list printed in
front of them for them to choose their three favourite motivational strategies and then
they would have been asked to list their preferences from the three they picked in
order of one, two and three. This would have been more reflective of their opinions
and feelings and would have made data more reliable and valid.
In future researches, better planning and a more focused questionnaire would provide
more reliable and worthy answers. The link between the final questionnaire and the
findings from the interviews could be more fully exploited. Moreover, a few piloted
interviews could have been conducted and analysed before the setting of questions,
resulting in a fairer and more homogenized array of choices for participants to choose
from, in order to bring more justness to the interviews and the answers that ensued.

5.2.

Implications for Future Practice

From the responses obtained from the interviews, questionnaires and observations,
the motivational strategies introduced did improve and enhance learning in that it
provided enjoyment, increased participation, openness, collaboration and peer
interaction in the classroom. We will now look at how the data and findings
correspond to the research questions posed at the start of the study and their
implications.
5.2.1. Motivational Strategies that Best Support, Improve and Enhance
Learning
The findings suggest that the participants in this case study did have a high degree of
intrinsic motivation. This certainly acted in favour of any intentional motivational
strategies that were introduced. From the findings, the two motivational strategies
that best supported motivation were interesting contents introduced in the lesson
that linked their curriculum with their everyday lives and their surroundings. The
childrens interest was piqued with topical subjects that touched upon life in Hong
Kong, popular people in the world and the world of the internet. The other
motivational strategy that best supported and enhanced learning was the playing of
games in the classroom. Whether it was formatted as a friendly competition or a
groupwork exercise, the participatory levels were observed to be higher and a more
involved stream of thought, enquiry and attempt into the task at hand was observed.
As other researchers have also found, Learning awakens a variety of internal
developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting
with people in his environment and in cooperation with peers (Vygotsky, 1978: 90).
In my future classroom activities, more such games and co-operative endeavours will
be placed to allow increased interaction and negotiation. The choice of context will
be scrutinized so as to be more appealing and relevant to the students.

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5.2.2. Suggested Scaffolding

Vygotskian theory stipulates that the mental processes of a child are stimulated when
there is a mediating agent. In other words, through scaffolding which works as a
mediating agent through the teacher can bring about effective understanding, mental
stimulus and learning by the student. Kozulin et al (2003) echo Vygotskys stance
that mediation through another human being and mediation in the form of organized
learning activity provides scaffolding as a mediated learning experience for the
students and the findings of this research suggests that one of the best ways is through
games, contextual group activities that best serve students in that they raise
motivational levels, interaction and cognitive potentialities. Furthermore, as Vygotsky
(1978: 57) declares:
every function in the childs cultural development appears twice: first, on the
social level, and later on the individual level; first, between people
(interpsychological), and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This
applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the
formulation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relations
between human individuals.
Games, cultural interactions, stories, dramatized sketches or anecdotes, recollections
of experiences all such communications and interactions provide a scaffolding or
assisted instruction that feed directly into motivational and cognitive devices in
children. Hence, the most effective scaffolding that should be implemented is
through these sources. The findings from the interviews and questionnaires are also
in a similar vein as communicated by the participants. In a similar research
conducted by Bohme (1999), it was found that the intellectual potential of the
children (in the research) is higher than expected in traditional curricula, but this
potential can only be realized by alternative classroom instruction. Alternate modes
of sociocultural platforms embedded in games, drama, group tasks all propel
motivational levels and cognitive learning. The implications of setting such
sociocultural contexts are indicative of raising motivational levels and it is an
engagement in class that I will endeavour to pursue.
As stated by Kozulin et al (2003), children need scaffolding in the form of learning
models for the acquisition of learning actions, such as problem-solving. The type of
scaffolding hence needed for language learners in a local CMI context would be types
of activities that would engage them in problem-solving, mediation and negotiation in
sociocultural contexts. Scaffolding or assisted learning can be streamlined into
meaningful and relevant activities and contents. For my own professional
development, a better planning into the step-by-step teaching methods with special
thought given to assisted teaching could continually scaffold students in their
language learning and realizations of successes in the classroom propelling
motivational levels in the classroom as well.
5.2.3. Restructuring and Redesigning Language Output
From the findings in the research, the first implication towards my teaching is that
language needs to be friendly and encouraging. The phrasing and putting forth an
idea, a concept or piece of instruction or indeed scaffolding done by way of language

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input must be clear, fun, interest-rousing and relevant to the students and their worlds.
Boredom or non-engagement seep in when language does not speak directly to their
needs or concerns.
Sullivan (1988) has provided a model on understanding the influence of positive
language on subordinates by leaders or teachers. Oral communications have positive
and measurable effects on the performance and enjoyment of tasks and highly
motivate students. The communication, Sullivan (1988) states are of three types:
direction-giving language meaning instructional language which needs to be clear,
relevant and to the point, empathetic language which includes encouragement, praise,
positive criticism and immediate acknowledgements when students are taking risks or
strides in their work or tasks. The last type is meaning-making language which
includes rules, cultural tenets, values and experiential references. Meaning-making
language is often transformed into metaphorical stories or legends (Cooke &
Rousseau, 1988). Whether the teacher is teaching, making a point, having direct
personal communication with a student or giving instructions, if the above three types
of communicative styles and attitudes are adopted in language, it uplifts the spirits of
students and brings them to a zone of motivated being. In my own classroom for
my future practice, adherence to this motivational language theory as propounded
by Sullivan in articulation of ideas, challenges and indeed, in any form of
communication is thus desired and can cause motivational levels in the classroom to
surge, as evidenced by the findings of observations, both questionnaires and the
interviews with the participants.
5.2.4. In the Context of CMI Schools
In the context of CMI schools where it is perceived that language is somewhat more
limited, the combination of the above strategies can boost motivational levels. The
results all suggest that interesting contents and topics relevantly contextualized to
have meaning and relevance to students are a motivating force and can even awaken
the non-participatory and more silent learners in the classroom. Games, drama,
stories, personal anecdotes all build meaning and involvement in the activities of the
classroom. Simplified but scaffolded ventures in tasks, classwork activity are steps to
bring about successes for the students which again are great motivators of learning.
Language directed towards the students can include facial expressions, gestures,
sounds and cries of appreciation with simple but powerful interjections of
encouragement, praise and acknowledgement integrated into teacher language as
everyday classroom language with friendly and amiable tones and proper degrees of
volume raises motivation and can even bring the students together into a realm of
interactional and involved classroom ambience.

5.3.

Suggestions and Recommendations for Other Researchers

The research endeavoured by me is a small-scale look into my own classroom and

teaching and to seek answers as to what works best for this group of participants.
When motivation was sagging and lessons seemed to be boring or dull, the answers
supplied through this research can help re-ignite motivational levels by these tried and
tested methods. Granted they are relevant to this case study, the possibilities for
future researchers to test the variables in their own classrooms and try out each

- 49 -

strategy on its own may reveal more information and insight into what particularly
motivates different kinds of students.
In local CMI schools, as the findings of this research suggested, there are also some
demotivating features that exist in classrooms. A research into these demotivating
variables and how best to combat them may also produce rich findings for the
research world and other educators. Sometimes the elimination of negative forces
can pave the way for positive reinforcements and teaching can be channelled
accordingly after correct measures are taken to eradicate demotivating elements. As
stated by Sakui & Cowie (2011), it would be challenging but instructional for
teachers to examine their own experience of learner unmotivation to see what extent
they can and should own the reasons for it.
Suggestions to counteract
unmotivation are creating a good relationship with students, having clear
goalsmaking teaching as high in quality as possible (Sakui & Cowie, 2011).
The types of language, gestures, games, stories, contexts, ways-of-being by the
teacher, communication between students and teacher can all be tested and researched
upon, either in groups of variables or individually. It is hoped that this small venture
into a case study of a local CMI school can inspire other teachers and educators to
research into the vast possibilities of motivational strategies and make use of them to
bring about a more enjoyable, involved and concerted learning domain for students in
Hong Kong.
Even a small-scale research such as this one can take a long time to arrange, plan,
implement and study and it is recommended that a wider time frame for closer and
more detailed study should be used. More often than not, a lot can be rushed into,
overlooked and downsized because of time pressures and limitations of opportunities
to do the research in a methodical, scientific and proper way. The findings of any
research well orchestrated are indeed invaluable and care should be taken to assure
the data reveals the situation appropriately and correctly.

5.4.

Reflections

Through this process of research study, a lot has opened up for me. The vast studies
and researches already done are astoundingly clear that educational research is a tool
to further investigate ones own practice of teaching and provides an opportunity to
review what are the strengths of ones own teaching and by the same token, where
improvement or some reform is needed. The vast subject of motivation that has been
tested, albeit small-scale, allows me to see the possibilities to expand the strategies
and to viably test them for more study and understanding of the mechanics of
motivation. More in-depth study would deepen the understanding and therefore
clarify the dynamics of a classroom. Moreover, as not all motivational strategies
were looked into and tested, a more comprehensive study into other forms of
motivation would breed better understanding and teaching in the local context.
Furthermore, from this research study, I have realized that motivation is on a temporal
continuum and students go through phases and fluxes of motivation. Therefore the
dynamics in the classroom change according to many factors. It is thus true that
many of the controversies and disagreements in L2 motivation research go back to

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an insufficient temporal awarenessit is an established premise in the processoriented paradigm that motivation shows different characteristics depending on what
stage the individual has reached in pursuing a goal. This would, however, mean that
different or even contradictory theories do not necessarily exclude one another but
may simply be related to different phases of the motivated behavioural process
(Dornyei, 2000, 2001a, Dornyei & Otto, 1998). To improve on my own professional
practice, as far as motivation is concerned, is from time to time, check into how
motivated my students are and in what ways am I channelling my teaching to cater
for their motivational needs.
Dornyei (2003) as cited in Sakui & Cowie (2011) speaks of the neglected aspect of
motivation by stating motivation has a dynamic character and temporal variation:
learners tend to demonstrate a fluctuating level of commitment even within a single
lesson, and the variation in their motivation over a longer period can be dramatic.
I must also assure that motivational strategies are always in place in the classroom or
at least, when levels of learning are dissipating, such strategies can be re-studied,
evaluated and put in place again in the classroom, as they indicate powerful sources
of means to achieve second-language acquisition. As cited in McDonough
(2007:370), Dornyei (2001:21) argues motivation changes over time in three phases:
choice, execution and retrospection. The initial choice to actually learn the language
or start the task rather than just think about it requires different springs to the
maintenance of effort, perseverance, or tolerance of frustration. Adding to it, Brophy
(2010) contends that intrinsic motivation is ideal but unattainable as an all-day,
everyday motivational state to seek to develop in, indicating more research into
temporal motivation.

5.5.

Conclusion

Every indication is given by the findings that motivational strategies work well in
local CMI classrooms irrespective of whether the students are intrinsically motivated
or not. Extrinsic motivators as suggested by theorists such as Dornyei, Sullivan and
Krashen all have their place in the classroom. Scaffolding through sociocultural
contexts as propagated by Vygotksy and Vygotskian theorists all have direct linkage
with motivation. Demotivating factors also need to be evaluated and there is always
space to do further research in eliminating or vanquishing them. It may also lead to
some very interesting and useful insights of mixed learning styles of local students
and open up suggestive means by which teachers can learn to make their lessons more
enjoyable and interesting for their student audiences.
This study reasserts the claim made by these theorists that motivation strategies are
tools that can be used to the advantage of the teacher. The strategies assist in
synthesizing learning, language acquisition with cultural and social aspects of
contents with contexts. This case study and action research indicates that the tapping
of motivational strategies in alliance with students internal motivational dispositions
can propel learning and language acquisition in a more enjoyable and meaningful
way.

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APPENDICES
Appendix One: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 1)

(23rd May, 2011 Monday)

Time: 35 minutes
Objective: To involve students into thinking of questions to ask their schoolmates
with a view to do a survey on a chosen topic and to articulate these questions in
class
Context: Learning questioning skills for a survey to be carried out at a later time
in school (groupwork)
Time

Stage

Activity

Objective

5 minutes

Set-up

To put Ss in groups
and set up context for
group discussion and
brainstorming

Ss think and
make up list of
viable
questions to
ask in a chosen
survey

10 minutes

Discussion

Ss form groups and

make up questions for
their surveys topic

Ss come up
with questions
for
schoolmates

15 minutes

Presentation

Ss volunteer to
present some of the
questions they have
devised; T assists in
correction/amendment

Ss voice out
and ascertain
correct Qs and
how best to
word them

5 minutes

Concluding

T appoints leaders;
sets up activity and
preview for next
lessons activity

For next
lessons
activity

Lesson Plan for English Oral - Lesson 1 (Page 1 of 1)

- 55 -

Appendix Two: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 2)

(26th May, 2011 Thursday)

Time: 35 minutes
Objective: To have students interact and try out the questions they have thought
of as a pilot to ascertain what are good questions and if they work
Context: From the topic the groups have chosen for the survey to be done in
school ( groupwork / individual )
Time

Stage

Activity

Objective

4 minutes

Set-up

To put Ss in
groups and set
up activity for
trying out
questions with
each other

Ss listen to task

12 minutes

Discussion /
Interaction (in
groups)

Ss form groups
and try out
questions
among their
own group
members

Ss articulate
questions; listen to
answers; check if
their questions are
relevant and worthy
(T walks around to
check)

15 minutes

Class Activity

Ss volunteer to
present some
of the
questions they
have devised
and others
answer

Ss try out
questions; class
judges if questions
are useful and
relevant

4 minutes

Wind-up and
Set-up for next
lessons

T recaps; sets
up topic for
next lesson

Register; for next

lessons activity

Lesson Plan for English Oral - Lesson 2 (Page 1 of 1)

- 56 -

Appendix Three: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 3)

(30th May, 2011 Monday)

Time: 35 minutes
Objective: To practice doing presentations on topics with key elements included
(individual participation)
Context: Topic: Primary Six Educational Camp (drawn from their own
experience, perspective and feelings) ( individual presentation ) 2 minutes each
Time

Stage

Activity

Objective

5 minutes

Set-up

Presentations
on topics in
class

Ss listen to task

5 minutes

Preparation

Classwork
(individual
preparation)

Ss prepare
presentation that
they intend to
volunteer to deliver
in class

5 minutes

Re-cap

T Ss; Ss
volunteer
answers /
suggestions

To register the key

elements that are
important in a
presentation

17 minutes

Presentations

Ss do individual
presentations

Practice and class

teaching

3 minutes

Wind-up

T winds up
lessons

To acknowledge Ss
for their good work

Lesson Plan for English Oral - Lesson 3 (Page 1 of 1)

- 57 -

Appendix Four: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 4)

(1st June, 2011 Wednesday)

Time: 35 minutes
Objective: To introduce follow-up questions for interviews for their project work
(Conducting a survey in school); to try out and practise what follow-up questions
are
Context: Learning questioning skills by using follow-up questions for a survey to
be carried out at a later time in school (groupwork)
Time

Stage

Activity

Objective

8 minutes

Set-up

T introduces
what follow-up
questions are

Ss listen and grasp

the meaning and
skill of follow-up
questions

10 minutes

Discussion

Ss form groups
and brainstorm
follow-up for
distributed
tasksheets

Ss come up with
follow-up questions
(trial)

15 minutes

Class Activity

Ss volunteer to
answer and give
follow-up
questions
according to
tasksheet; T
listens and
teaches

Ss volunteer followup questions

2 minutes

Concluding

T winds up
lesson

T acknowledges Ss
classwork

Lesson Plan for English Oral - Lesson 4 (Page 1 of 1)

- 58 -

Appendix Five: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lesson 5)

(3rd June, 2011 Friday)

Time: 35 minutes
Objective: To check classwork in class through discussion and teaching
Context: Environment and the 4 Rs (reduce / reuse / recycle / replace)
Time

Stage

Activity

Objective

5 minutes

Set-up

T sets up
activity; Ss
prepare with
their
workbooks

To check classwork
with a view to
revise

15 minutes

Class Activity

Ss read and
give out
answers;
discussions
ensues

To register Ss with
correct answers
and explanations

14 minutes

Class Activity

Class check
Reading Task
and context for
topic

Ss voice out and

ascertain correct
answers with Ts
explanations

1 minute

Concluding

T informs what
next lesson will
be

For next lessons

activity

Lesson Plan for English Oral - Lesson 5 (Page 1 of 1)

- 59 -

Appendix Six: Lesson Plan for English Oral (Lessons 6 & 7)

(10th June, 2011 Friday)

Time: 35 minutes + 35 minutes
Objective: To involve students in a vocabulary game
Context: Topics they have learnt throughout the year ( groupwork )
Time

Stage

Activity

Objective

5 minutes

Set-up

T sets up activity;
Ss prepare with
their writing tasks

To check
classwork with a
view to revise

15 minutes

Class Activity

Ss read and give

out answers;
discussions ensues

To register Ss
with correct
answers and
explanations

5 minutes

Game

To explain the game

and set up rules; Ss
are formed in
groups and listen to
how the game is
played

Setting up the
game and
explaining the
rules

(intro)

42 minutes

Game-Playing

Ss play the game

(work in groups)

To have fun and

practise oral
English and
revise
vocabulary

3 minutes

Wind-up

T concludes games
and scores are
looked at

T acknowledges
the participants
of the game

Lesson Plan for English Oral - Lesson 6 & 7 (Page 1 of 1)

- 60 -

Appendix Seven: Consent Letter for Principal

Mr. Prakash ADVANI,

Student Investigator,
Tai Kok Tsui Catholic Primary School,
Tai Kok Tsui,
Kowloon
Mr. LEE Kee Nin,
The Principal,
Tai Kok Tsui Catholic Primary School,
Tai Kok Tsui,
Kowloon
9th March, 2011
Dear Mr. Lee,
I am Mr. Prakash Nenumal ADVANI, a student of Master of Education (English Language
Education) at the University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Education. I will conduct a research
project on Exploring what strategies can be implemented to support and sustain motivation in
Primary Six students in learning English through English and I would like to ask for your kind
permission and approval to allow me to conduct such a study at school. For my research, Id like
to explore motivational strategies as well as instructional strategies and would like to collect data
from my students of Primary 6-C which is my English class. Their responses to my
questionnaires would be very valuable. The entire study will last for FOUR months starting from
March to June. Details of the research activity are listed below.
The research activity consists of three parts:
-

a recording of some English lessons (no more than five) during the period of March 2011 and
June 2011

a questionnaire about learning English with special reference to their English classes in
school taught by Mr. Prakash (myself). The questionnaire will have no more than 10
questions and will not take up more than 15 minutes of the students time

a lengthier questionnaire of their learning habits and some choices or preferences they may
have or some feelings towards these lessons will also be investigated. This questionnaire will
not be more than 15 questions and will not take more than 20 minutes of students time.

Four in-depth interviews conducted by me in the presence of another English teacher in a

designated room which will run for no more than 30 minutes. The names of these FOUR
students will be supplied to you at a later date when the choices of the interviewees have been
made.
Consent Letter for Principal (Page 1 of 2)

- 61 -

Participation in this study is absolutely voluntary and would only involve about 30-35 minutes of
the students time. I will also be sending a parental consent letter prior to any research action
being taken to ascertain that consent by parents has been solicited. There are no known or
anticipated risks to the childs participation in this study. The questions are quite general (for
example, what part of the English lesson do you most enjoy ?) and they will be multiple choice
questions making it easy and manageable for them to do. Any child may decline answering any
questions he/she wishes not to answer. All information provided will be considered and kept
confidential and grouped with responses from other participants. They will be kept under lock
and key by me and only I and my university tutor will have access to them and that too, only for
data analysis purposes.
Through this study, I intend to gain insight from the data collected to aid and improve my
teaching of English. This, in turn, will benefit the students in their learning as my teaching
improves and facilitates better understanding, management and a higher efficiency in the
transmission of communication to my students.
Furthermore, no child will be identified by name in my thesis or in any report or publication
resulting from this study. The data collected through this study will be kept for a period of one
year in my custody.
Last but not least, I would like to assure you that this study has been reviewed and has received
ethics clearance through the Office of Research Ethics at the Hong Kong University.
Your kind permission to conduct this research study is therefore kindly requested. Thank you in
advance for granting me permission to carry out my research in our school.
Yours sincerely,

Prakash ADVANI, Mr.

Student Investigator

Consent Letter for Principal (Page 2 of 2)

- 62 -

Appendix Eight: Consent Letter for Parents (English & Chinese Versions)

**ENGLISH VERSION (SAMPLE)**

Mr. Prakash ADVANI
Student Investigator
Tai Kok Tsui Catholic Primary School,
Tai Kok Tsui,
Kowloon
Dear Parent of ____________________,
I am Mr. Prakash Nenumal ADVANI, a student of Master of Education
(English Language Education) at the University of Hong Kong,
Faculty of Education. I will conduct a research project
onExploring What Strategies can be Implemented to Support and
Sustain Motivation in P.6 Students in Learning English Through
English and I would like to invite your child to participate.
For my research, Id like to explore motivational strategies as
well as instructional strategies and would like to collect data
from my students. As your child, __________________________of P.
6C is in my English class and has been a student of mine for two
years or more, their responses to my questionnaire would be very
valuable. The entire study will last for FIVE months starting
from mid-February to mid-June. Details of the research activity
are listed below.
The research activity consists of three parts:
- a recording of some English lessons (no more than five)
during the period between February 2011 and June 2011
- a questionnaire about learning English with special
reference to their English classes in school taught by Mr.
Prakash (myself). The questionnaire will have no more than
10 questions and will not take up more than 15 minutes of
your childs time
- a lengthier questionnaire of their learning habits and some
choices or preferences they may have or some feelings
towards these lessons will also be investigated. This
questionnaire will not be more than 15 questions and will
not take more than 20 minutes time.
Participation in this study is absolutely voluntary and would
only involve about 30-35 minutes of your childs time, your
permission towards my aspirations to become a better and more
effective teacher using English to teach English is therefore
sought. There are no known or anticipated risks to your childs
participation in this study. The questions are quite general (for
example, what part of the English lesson do you most enjoy ?) and
they will be multiple choice questions making it easy and
manageable for your child to do. Your child may decline
answering any questions he/she wishes not to answer. All
information provided will be considered and kept
Consent Letter for Parents (Page 1 of 3)

- 63 -

confidential and grouped with responses from other participants.

They will be kept under lock and key by me and only I and my
university tutor will have access to them and that too, only for
data analysis purposes.
Furthermore, your child will not be identified by name in my
thesis or in any report or publication resulting from this study.
The data collected through this study will be kept for a period
of one year in my custody.
If after receiving this letter, you have any questions about this
study, or would like additional information to assist you in
reaching a decision about participation, please feel free to
contact Mr. Prakash ADVANI either at 2395-2521 or by email at
advanimusic@gmail.com I will be more than pleased to clarify or
furnish you with more information about my study.
Last but not least, I would like to assure you that this study
has been reviewed and has received ethics clearance through the
Office of Research Ethics at the Hong Kong University. However,
the final decision about your childs participation is yours.
Should you have comments or concerns resulting from your childs
participation in this study, please contact Mr. Prakash Advani at
2395-2521.
Every piece of data acquired is of importance and will be treated
with the utmost respect and privacy. Thank you for your
assistance in this study. Kindly fill out the bottom part of
this letter and return it to us with your permission or
abstinence from this study.
Yours sincerely,

Prakash ADVANI, Mr.

Student Investigator

------------------------REPLY-FORM---------------------------Dear Mr. Prakash,

In response to your seeking permission to my child
____________________________s participation in your action
research study,
I permit / do not permit* my child to participate in this study.
I understand clearly all the parameters of your study and my
childs protected anonymity and welfare throughout the course of
your study.
Yours sincerely,
___________________________ Signature
(
) Name in Block Letters
Date: __________________________
* delete as per choice

Consent Letter for Parents (Page 2 of 3)

- 64 -

**CHINESE VERSION (SAMPLE)**

Mr. Prakash Advani

2011
320116

()
() ()
() ()

________________

(311)

6C

(Mr. Prakash Advani)

______________________________________________________________________________
__

* /

6C
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
____________ ( )

_______________________
*

Consent Letter for Principal (Page 3 of 3)

- 65 -

Appendix Nine: Transcription (Interview 1)

P : Interviewer
K: Interviewee {Student 1 Kylie [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 23rd June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Right, um, can you tell me your name ?

K:

My name is Kylie.

P:

Alright, Kylie and which class are you from ?

K:

Im from 6C.

P:

First of all, Kylie, before we start this interview, I just want to thank you
for coming out of the classroom and spending a few minutes with me to
talk about English lessons. Thank you very much.

K:

Youre welcome.

P:

First of all, I would like to know, do you like the English subject ?

K:

Yes, I like English very much because English is important and its very
easy to learn. And I think if we dont like English, it will be very hard to
enjoy.

P:

So you know English is very useful ? Um, do you like English lessons in
this school ?

K:

Yes, because we sometimes can play games in the English lesson and we
can also learn many English and I feel English is easier than Chinese so we
can learn the English and enjoy the English very much.

P:

OK, so you like using English to learn English ?

K:

Yes.

P:

OK, now this is because you think it is helpful in practicing your English ?

K:

Yes.

P:

K:

10

15

20

Now you say you like games and you like using English, can you give some
examples of some of the activities you like in the English lessons ?
I.I like the story book in the English lesson and the English book is also
fun too. Its not only teach English but also General Studies and the books
talks about, for example, Chapter 5, about our environment.

P:

So you mean the contents what you are learning about is also very
important to you ?

K:

Yes.

25

Transcription (Interview 1) (Page 1 of 4)

- 66 -

P:

I see, Kylie, your English is very good and you always get high marks, but
in the lessons, you are a little bit quiet, do you agree that you are a little bit
quiet in the lesson ?

K:

Yes.

P:

Um, why dont you speak more ? Or do you like speaking up in the English
lesson or not ?

K:

I.I..I would speak but I dont like speaking because if you ask me, I will
speak but if you dont ask me, I wont speak.

P:

Um, why ?

K:

Because I dont like.

P:

You dont like but may I ask why dont you like speaking ?

K:

I thinkif you choose to ask them, you ask them, you dont ask me.

P:

How about if the teacher says, Kylie, do you want to help me with something
then how do you feel ?

K:

I will..I will feel happy and if the teacher tells me, I will do it but if its very
hard, I wont.

P:

Kylie, um, what are some of the things Mr. Prakash does in the lesson that
you like ? For example, what does he do to make you more interested in
English ?

K:

Sometimes, Mr. Prakash will act the characters and the people in the book
and I think that is good for us because we can learn the feelings that the
person is feeling.

P:

So you like Mr. Prakash to act more ?

K:

Yes [smiling].

P:

Use the face and make some facial expressions, is it ?

K:

Yes [smiling].

P:

OK, so you like a little more drama in the English lessons ?

K:

Yes.

P:

OK, I also want to know um, sometimes, if you noticed, in the last few
lessons, I always do Good, and also Well Done, Excellent [acts out with a
thumbs-up], if I said that to you, like Im doing, whats your feeling about
that ?

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

K:

I dont understand.

P:

You dont understand, okay, sometimes I remember I say to you Kylie,

pack your schoolbag, you can go to Form One. Im, Im praising you and
Im saying that, Kylie, your writing is very good, always gives good work,
65
I tell you in front of the whole class your good points, how do you feel
about that ? Do you like it or you dont like it or whats your feeling about
that ?
Transcription (Interview 1) (Page 2 of 4)

- 67 -

K:

Um, I feel it is good because the people will know who, who we can learn
from them and, and we can also teach other children.

P:

OK, so you, you like the teacher to say something good about you ?

K:

But sometimes good because we can improve by ourselves.

P:

OK, so you like all kinds of feedback ?

K:

Yes.

P:

OK, will that make you want to learn English more or will that make you
want tohow will that, how will that make you feel , how will that make
you feel if I say something good or something not good ?

K:

I will feelI feel Mr. Prakash is good because he is care, he cares about
us and I will feel that I can do more.

P:

Do you, do you, can you feel that Mr. Prakash cares for us, do you feel that ?

K:

Yes.

P:

Can you give me an example, if you can, or what, what does Mr. Prakash
do that makes you think that he cares ?

K:

Sometimes Mr. Prakash willjust like sometimes if you are not happy but
you must come to our class and take care of us and if you promise to play
games, you play games with us.

P:

So you like the teacher to keep his promise ?

K:

Yes.

P:

OK, alright, Ill just ask you one last question. What more do you want
Mr. Prakash to do in the English lessons, to make the lesson more
interesting, more exciting or challenging whatever you feel you like
Mr. Prakash to do to make you be happier or more involved in the English
lesson ?

K:

I think he can do more activities such as playing games and act and do
English and I think you can teach quicker and also you will say something
again and again.

P:

I repeat a lot and you dont like that ?

K:

But maybe it is something important..

P:

Thats why I repeat but youre a clever girl so does it make you feel a little
bored ?

K:

Yes [smiling].

P:

Oh, does that make you, um, dream or, or when you feel bored, what
happens to you in the lesson ?

K:

Nothing.

P:

Nothing, that means even though youre bored, youll still pay attention ?

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

Transcription (Interview 1) (Page 3 of 4)

- 68 -

K:

Yes.

P:

Why ?

K:

[pause]because there is something important thing there for us to hear

and learn in the lesson.

P:

OK, Im going to ask you to rate three things, one, you like the most, two
is the second and three is the third, Mr. Prakash saying that you are good
and excellent, thats one thing, Mr. Prakash playing more activities or the
third thing, um, Mr. Prakash teaching a little bit quicker, which of the
three things would you choose number one, number two and number
three ? Which one is number one Mr. Prakash saying something good
about you, Mr. Prakash teaching quickly or Mr. Prakash playing more
games in the classroom ?

K:

Playing more games

P:

That would be one, ok, how about number two ?

K:

[thinking]

P:

Saying good things about you or teaching quicker ?

K:

Teaching quicker

P:

Okay, and number three and number three is singling you out and saying
how wonderful you are ?

K:

[nods]

P:

Thatll be number three, ok ! Kylie, thank you very much for a wonderful
interview. Goodbye. Can you help me call Katrina to come down ?

110

115

120

125

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 1) (Page 4 of 4)

- 69 -

Appendix Ten: Transcription (Interview 2)

P : Interviewer
K: Interviewee {Student 2 Katrina [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 23rd June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Can you tell me whats your name ?

K:

My name is Katrina.

P:

And which class are you from ?

K:

Im from 6C.

P:

The first thing I want to say is thank you for taking part in this interview.
Thank you very much. Um, the first question I want to ask you is do you
like English and do you like English lessons ?

K:

Yes, because English is an international language and when we go out to

work, we must use English and I think English is fun and easy because if
you think it is difficult, you cannot get high marks in the exam.

P:

So you have no trouble with English ?

K:

No, because my father speaks English and my sister, well her English is
very good and when I have questions, I ask them.

P:

Okay, do you like English lessons in this school ?

K:

Yes, because I think when we talk English, I can ask questions and my
friends can help me solve my problem.

P:

Um, what kind of activities do you enjoy most in the English lessons ?
What part of the English lessons do you like more ?

K:

I think its when we check the workbook because when I.when we

check the book carefully, we have questions about grammar and vocabulary,
it is very useful.

P:

I remember sometimes I say in front of everybody about you and I dont

know if you remember, I say wow, Katrina, shes a clever one, she always
asks the best questions. Sometimes she asks Form Three questions and I
say very good things about you in class in front of everybody, how do you
feel when you hear that in front of the class ?

K:

I dont mind when you say that because if I have a question, I will ask
the question and when I ask the teacher, everyone will learn more.

P:

If Iif Isay something good about you, does it make you more
interested in English ? Does it make you want to even do better ?

K:

10

15

20

25

30

Yes, I think it is very important for children and we are always interested
to learn more.
Transcription (Interview 2) (Page 1 of 2)

- 70 -

P:

Okay, um, so you know that interest is very important ?

K:

[nods]

P:

Is that the reason why you always put up your hand ? I want to know why
do you always put up your hand, take part in the lessons ? What makes you
sit alert, paying attention because you always pay attention ?

K:

Its because the lesson is interesting and I like to learn. I want to know more
and other areas too.

P:

So you are really interested in English ?

K:

Yes. [nods]

P:

Okay, now, if I give you choices for three things: one, I say something very
good about you, number two, Ill talk about a very interesting topic, number
three, we have some fun activities, how do you rate..which will be
Number One, which will be Number Two, which will be Number Three ?

40

K:

I think it will be the interesting topic because I will be interested and then
the fun games because a lot of our classmates want to play games. Finally,
I think it is encourage.

P:

Okay, what more can Mr. Prakash do, what can you advise Mr. Prakash to
do more to make..to make the lessons interesting, to make the students
more interested in my lessons and take part in my lessons ? Some advice
some suggestions ?

..
K:

35

[thinking]
Maybe more topics without the..without the book, knowledge in the
book because knowledge in the book, we can learn by ourselves but I think
the teacher can teach us more.

P:

So youd like me to teach you more from outside the textbook ?

K:

Yes.

P:

Then youll feel more interested ?

K:

Yes.

P:

OK, thats quite interesting. Katrina, thank you very much for taking part in
this interview.

K:

Youre welcome. Can I go back to the classroom ?

P:

Yes.

45

50

55

60

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 2) (Page 2 of 2)

- 71 -

Appendix Eleven: Transcription (Interview 3)

P : Interviewer
S: Interviewee {Student 3 Steven [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 23rd June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Are you ready ?

S:

Yes.

P:

Okay, can you please tell us your name ?

S:

My name is Steven.

P:

And which class are you from ?

S:

I come from 6C.

P:

Okay, um, Steven, first I want to thank you for taking part in this interview
and giving me some of your time. Alright, first question I want to ask you
is do you like English and do you like English lessons ?

S:

I like English lessons best because I like English very much because English
is easy to know the meaning and I think English is fun because sometimes
we can play games on English Day and we can talk to all the English
teachers in the school.

P:

You like speaking English ?

S:

[nods] Yes.

Do you like learning English very much ?

S:

Yes [nods]. Because I think English is easy tolike when we write the
writing in English is easy to write more than sometimes have some we need
to write more than eighty to hundred words maybe we can write more than a
hundred words.

10

15

P:

So you think English is..using English to learn English is a good

idea ?

S:

Yes.

P:

And you enjoy it ?

S:

Yes.

P:

Okay, um, what are some of the activities..I know you mentioned......
but is there anything else Mr. Prakash does that makes you more interested
in English ?

20

25

Transcription (Interview 3) (Page 1 of 2)

- 72 -

S:

Maybe we can take some time to read some English ERS [Extensive Reading
Scheme] in the lessons and after we read the ERS book then maybe you can
make some question sheet following.

P:

Just like we did in the last two days ? So you like stories ?

S:

Yes.

P:

Okay, alright, how about sometimes I say in the class Steven, you are
really very good, you are one of the best. I say something good about you,
how does that make you feel and does it make you more interested in
English ?

S:

P:

S:

Yes, maybe I.I like more English because we can.we canlike

Mr. Prakash say that today we are good and so we can some new thing and
then we can will be more better than after we hear, they will improve their
English.
Okay, so if I give you three things to choose, one, two, three, number one is
what you like the most, number two and then number three. One thing is
that Mr. Prakash says something good and praises you and tells good things
about you, number two do more story books with questions and number
three, maybe say playing games and you put one, two, three, which one
would you choose one, which one two, which one three ?
I would like to choose stories Number One because maybe we can learn
more English and English ERS more than textbooks. Number Two I would
choose you praise us because maybe it will make us to improve, Number
Three, we play games and we can talk more English and learn more English.

P:

What advice, what suggestions would you give Mr. Prakash to make the
English lessons more interesting, more interesting for you ?

S:

Maybe we can play some something we can learn English but its also
interesting, you dont think it will be boring and some children dont like
English maybe after he plays this thing and they will think English is fun.

P:

30

35

40

45

50

55

Steven, thank you very much for a wonderful interview. Thank youcan
you call.?

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 3) (Page 2 of 2)

- 73 -

Appendix Twelve: Transcription (Interview 4)

P : Interviewer
L: Interviewee {Student 4 Liam [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 23rd June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Okay, can you tell us whats your name ?

L:

My name is Liam.

P:

And which class are you from ?

L:

Im from 6C.

P:

Okay, before we start the interview, can I thank you for doing this
interview with me and for your time. Alright, are you ready. Im going to
ask you the first question. Do you like English and do you like English
lessons in this school ?

L:

Yes, um, because our English teacher, you always teach us something
important and its very useful.

P:

So you enjoy the lessons because of the things you learn ? Sometimes, I talk
about you in class, I tell many students in front also in front of teachers such
as Mr. Chan here, that Liam participates and I feel he is the most participating
person in my lesson, how does that make you feel ?

L:

I feel proud of myself.

Is it important to you and that it makes you want to learn more English, that
means if I stop praising you, you wont be so interested or you will continue
to be interested ?

L:

Maybe, stop.

P:

Oh, so its quite important that I encourage you and say good things
about you ? Is it ?

L:

Yes.

P:

Okay, why do you have such high participation in my lessons ?

L:

Because I want you to teach us something we cannot learn outside and

we can easy know what that thing means, what is the words to make
a sentence, make it better, how to make each sentence better.

10

15

P:

Okay, do you participate in all the other subjects the same way ?
Are you also always putting up your hand and talking and ready to
come out maybe Chinese lessons, Maths lesson, Art lesson or.

L:

Of course, yes.

20

25

30

Transcription (Interview 4) (Page 1 of 3)

- 74 -

P:

So you are quite motivated, we can motivated, ready to learn, ready to

take part in all the subjects ?

L:

Yes.

P:

Okay, um, so, so if a lesson is boring, if Mr. Prakash, do you think some
of the lessons are boring with Mr. Prakash ?

L:

Yes, just some.

P:

Yes, cannot be every lesson is wonderful. Some lessons are a little bit
boring. So do you think in the boring lessons, you wont take part or will
you still take part ?

L:

I will take part too.

P:

Your personality likes to take part. Alright, what advice can you give
Mr. Prakash, what suggestions to make it more interesting so that more people
can take part and act just like you ?

L:

You can use the game to teach us the English and take story books can
make know more inside the story.

35

40

P:

You like that ?

L:

[nods]

P:

try to act sometimes ?

L:

Yes.

P:

Try to act sometimes, do I act ?

L:

Yes.

P:

You like more acting, then how will the lesson be ?

L:

Interesting.

P:

Interesting, okay. Im going to let you choose one, two, three.

Number One is more acting to make it more interesting. Number
Two is saying good things about you in front of everybody. Number
Three is teaching you more things other than the book. Which one will you
Number one, Number Two and Number Three ?

45

50

L:

I think Number One is

P:

Number One is..

L:

more acting

P:

More acting you like, and Number Two ?

L:

is learning

P:

that means more contents to learn outside the book. And Number Three ?

L:

Number Three is the second one.

55

60

65
Transcription (Interview 4) (Page 2 of 3)

- 75 -

P:

Okay, that means..what is the second one ?

L:

Oh, the third one can is..new oneI just thinkteach quickly.

P:

Teach quickly, you want me to teach quickly. Im too slow, is it ? So if I

teach slowly, how will you feel ? Youll be bored ?

L:

No, teach slowly maybe class we will teach the things very quickly, we
cannot learn very sure.

P:

Yes, so thats why I like to teach slowly

L:

No need very quickly but also no very slow

P:

Maybe Mr. Prakash can teach a little bit quicker, thats what you mean ?
Okay, thank you very much for taking part in this interview. Thank you.

L:

Goodbye.

P:

Goodbye.

70

75

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 4) (Page 3 of 3)

- 76 -

Appendix Thirteen: Transcription (Interview 5)

P : Interviewer
K: Interviewee {Student 5 Katey [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 23rd June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Can you tell us your name ?

K:

I am (pseudonym).

P:

Do you have an English name ?

K:

Katey.

P:

Katey, and which class are you from ?

K:

6C.

P:
Alright, Katey, before we start, I want to thank you for taking part
in this interview and talking to us.
K:

[nods]

P:

Okay, the first question I want to ask you is do you like English and do you
like English lessons in this school ?

K:

I like because I can speak more about English then.then I like the English
lesson because when I.when I learn from the English lesson, I can
learn many things about the every life more.

P:

What part of the English lesson do you like most ?

K:

I like the play games. When I play games, I can learn something. I also can
enjoy the game.

P:

Thats true. Katey, I always tell everybody and other teachers that Katey
in my lesson has very high participation, always puts up her hands, always
ready to come out and give the answer, how does that make you feel when
I tell everybody that even I told your father, I told your father that in my
lesson she is very good, always likes to take part, hows your feeling about
that ?

K:

10

15

Im happy the teacher can.cancan.praise me and when I go out to

answer the question, Im very proud. I can learn something and I can speak
to other knowledge people.

But sometimes, Katey, you sleep in my class, sometimes you take part and
sometimes you sleep. Is it because the lesson is boring ?

K:

Somesometimes is boring, because when youwhen Mr. Prakash

ask me to spell the word, I cant remember, I think it is boring.

20

25

30

Transcription (Interview 5) (Page 1 of 2)

- 77 -

P:

What can Mr. Prakash do to make the lesson more interesting for you ?

K:

You can add some fun words and be happy.

P:

So, some funny things.

K:

[nods]

P:

Do you like playing games ?

K:

Yes, because..because playing games is fun.

P:

Alright, I will ask you to choose Number One, Number Two, Number Three,
which one you like best, which one is Number Two, which one is Number
Three. Number One is playing games and having fun. Number Two is you
like the lesson, you like what you are learning, Number Three is when
Mr. Prakash tells everyone how wonderful and how good you are, so which
one is One, which one is Two, which one is Three ?

35

K:

Number Two

P:

You tell me which one is number one first.

K:

Learning something.

P:

You like learning something ?

K:

Because although I like playing the games, I wish to study more because
we are Primary Six now, but we need play games because.because..
playing games is fine too because we can learn something too. Number
Three is teacher praising me.

40

45

P:

Okay, but thats not that important, you prefer playing games, like that.
Okay, alright, Katey, thank you very much for this interview.

K:

Youre welcome.

P:

Goodbye.

K:

Goodbye.

50

55

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 5) (Page 2 of 2)

- 78 -

Appendix Fourteen: Transcription (Interview 6)

P : Interviewer
M: Interviewee {Student 6 Maxwell [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 23rd June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Ready ?

M:

Yes.

P:

Can you tell us your name ?

M:

Maxwell.

P:

Little louder..

M:

Maxwell.

P:

Alright, thank you, and which class are you in ?

M:

6C.

P:

Okay, Maxwell, the first thing I want to ask you is do you like the English
subject and do you like English lessons in this school ?

M:

I really love the subject English because there are many foreigner teachers
and NET teachers and their English is natural so they teach us very well and
I enjoy English lessons with us and many school children enjoy English
lessons so I really enjoy with them.

P:

What activities do you like and enjoy so much in the lesson ?

M:

I like outside the classroom.

P:

Yes, tell us whatever you like.

M:

Group Discussion.

P:

Group Discussion ? You like Group Discussion ? Can you tell me why ?

M:

Because many people join this group discussion and many just watch and
all enjoy the discussion and they enjoy it very much and make so much
discussion so its really enjoyable.

P:

In the lesson, Maxwell, sometimes you put up your hand quite a lot and
you take part, why do you take part in the lessons ?

M:

Um, let me think.

P:

What makes you want to take part in the lesson ?

M:

Attraction.

10

15

20

25

Transcription (Interview 6) (Page 1 of 3)

- 79 -

P:

Attraction! What attracts you in the lesson ?

M:

Topicand the contents.

P:

Contents and topic is very important.

M:

[nods]

P:

How about when Mr. Prakash tells everybody, wow this boy is cheerful,
and improving and doing very well and today I also said you should
pack up your schoolbag and go to Form One. How is that.does that
how does that make you feel ?

30

M:

I feel very happy and I just grow up and my dad and my mom said you
grow up and I can take care of myself and help my mum do the housework
such as folding the clothes, washing the clothes and all housework.

P:

So your parents also encourage you and say good things about you and
that makes you do more ? So what do you do more when Mr. Prakash
praises you and says, wow Maxwell, youve improved a lot, what would
you do ?

M:

I will just more pay attention and just want to make Mr. Prakash happy and
I want to really improve myself. Because Mr. Prakash have spent so much
time for me and I wont let him down.

P:

But can you give Mr. Prakash some advice, some suggestions what he can
do, what you would like him to do to make the lessons more interesting
for you ?

M:

Um..let me think..We can have some..something that,

like games such as playing with us and learning English and Hangman,
I like Hangman game, thats so much fun.

P:

The Neo-Hangman game that I played with you ? Okay, Im going to let
you choose one, two, three, Number One is Mr. Prakash sayng youre
wonderful, you have improved, youre ready for Form One such things,
Number Two is playing more games with you or Number Three topics
contents so if you say one, two, three, which is the most important
Number One, which is Number Two, which is Number Three ?

M:

Which one is first.

P:

Number One.Number One, which one ? Saying good things about

you or playing games or the topic, the contents.

M:

The topic, the contents because if you like talk what in the playground,
or the school, its useful so this would be very important, yes. And
teachers appreciation is two.

P:

Appreciation, that is number two. Encourage you ?

M:

And want to do better.

P:

And when I tell you, you can do better, whatwhat.how will you do ?

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

Transcription (Interview 6) (Page 2 of 3)

- 80 -

M:

And I will be better and work hard in Mr. Prakashs lessons because I want
to make many teachers happy so this is important so I want to do that.

P:

And Number Three ?

M:

Playing games.

P:

Playing games, okay, thank you very much, Maxwell, for taking part in this
interview.

M:

Youre welcome.

P:

Goodbye.

M:

Goodbye.

70

75

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 6) (Page 3 of 3)

- 81 -

Appendix Fifteen: Transcription (Interview 7)

P : Interviewer
C: Interviewee {Student 7 Clara [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 25th June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Okay, can you tell us whats your name ?

C:

My name is Clara.

P:

And which class are you from ?

C:

Im from 6C.

P:

Okay, Clara, before we start the interview, I just want to say thank you
to you for taking part in this interview and giving us some of your time.
The first question I want to ask you is do you like English, do you like
English lessons and why ?

C:

I like English because I think English is fun and the teacher teach us very
well and the teacher must play games with us and this is fun.

P:

So can I just ask you what part of the English lesson do you like best ?

C:

I like is playing games because play games, we can learn English, we can
play with friends and it is lovely.

P:

Okay, Clara, you are quite a good student in English and get very good marks
but I find that you are very quiet in the lessons, your ears are open but I
think you dont like to speak so much, why ?

C:

I think learning English is pay attention, not so much speaking is okay.

Why dont you like to put up your hand or give answers to the teacher
in class ?

C:

Id like to listen and drop down some answers only.

P:

Okay, alright, if I give you a choice of different things, for example, play
games in the classroom, learning about something interesting, interesting
and the contents are very interesting or maybe even the teacher saying
something good about you in front of the whole class, sometimes I say
something good about you, Clara, pack your schoolbag, you should go to
Form One now. If I ask you to write down one, two, three one is your
favourite and then two, three is your least favourite, how would you term
these three ?

C:

I think playing games is one.

P:

And then Number Two ?

C:

Learning something useful.

10

15

20

25

30

Transcription (Interview 7) (Page 1 of 2)

- 82 -

P:
Thats Number Two ? And Number Three will be the teacher saying
something good about you.
C:

Yes [nods].

P:

How will you feel if sometimes Mr. Prakash in the English lesson, stops,
looks at you and says Connie, arent you great, I remember during the
checking of the English exam, I said everybody, look at how Clara, she just
answered the questions with very few words but she got full marks in that
part, how did you feel ?

35

C:

I felt very proud of myself.

40

P:

Will that make you more interested in English ?

C:

Yes, because I can learn English from the teacher and the students can
learn well too.

P:

So do you enjoy the teacher saying good things about you.is it very
important to you ?

C:

I think its not important because learning well is my responsibility.

P:

Its your responsibility ? So inside your heart, what do you feel about
learning English in this school ?

C:

I think English is important so I will work hard.

P:

Okay, the last question, can you give Mr. Prakash some advice, any advice
how you think I can make the English lessons more interesting and more
suitable for you ?

C:

[thinking] I think I know Mr. Prakash teaches well but can

check the answers more faster.

P:

Okay, check the answers faster so that would be much better, is it so that
means youd like me to teach a little faster, is it ?

C:

[nods]

P:

Okay, Clara, thank you very much for your wonderful participation in my
interview. Goodbye.

C:

Goodbye, Mr. Prakash.

45

50

55

60

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 7) (Page 2 of 2)

- 83 -

Appendix Sixteen: Transcription (Interview 8)

P : Interviewer
M: Interviewee {Student 8 Maria [pseudonym]}
Date of interview: 25th June, 2011
***start of interview***
P:

Okay, can you tell us your name ?

M:

My name is Maria and Im from 6C.

P:

Maria, before I start the interview, I just want to say thank you to you
for taking part in this interview. The first question I want to ask you,
Maria, is do you like English and do you like English lessons in this
school and why ?

M:

Yes, I like English because English is fun and useful in the world and
I think English maybe more useful than other languages.

P:

Okay, is that why you are interested in English because it is useful ?

M:

No, and I think English can, learn more English is funny and some of
the English games are interesting.

P:

Some ? So you like listening to English, do you like speaking English ?

M:

Yes, because I can improve my English.

P:

What parts of the English lesson do you enjoy most ?

M:

I enjoy playing games most because playing games can make more fun in
the lesson and can..in the games, we can also learn English and many
students also enjoy it very much.

Sometimes Mr. Prakash in the lesson will stop and turn to you and say,
this girl [pointing to Maria], has improved so much and says all the good
things about you in front of the class, do you think this is important in
making you like more English ?

M:

I dont think so because learning English is what we should do and what

is your favourite subject is from your heart and not from what the teacher
is saying.

P:

But do you like Mr. Prakash sometimes in front of everyone, praise you ?

M:

No, because I..I just want to learn more English and I dont think
the these things but I know some students will like..some students will
from the praise, will learn more and enjoy English.

P:

Okay, can you give me some advice or some suggestions what I can do to
make English lessons more interesting and make you want to join more and
learn more and speak more ?

10

15

20

25

30

Transcription (Interview 8) (Page 1 of 2)

- 84 -

M:

I think you can in the lesson dont always angry or shout at someone and
say the thing is interesting because sometimes some children feel very
boring in the lesson and maybe we can watch some DVDs or play more
games to learn English.

P:

Now you said two things very interesting: dont shout so much, dont get
angry so much and also, what was your second suggestion ?

M:

Watch more DVDs and play games.

P:

Just before that, what did you say ?

M:

Some children will feel boring.

P:

Boring..okay, so first question then I want to ask you is if I shout or get

angry, do you think this will make some children not like English or not
want to learn English ?

M:

Yes, because you shout at them and then maybe they will feel very fright
and sad and dont want to learn English and I think if they have some
wrong, you could talk to them and tell them in friendly and tell them not
to do again.

P:

40

Okay, thats very good advice, thank you. And the second thing is that
its boring, maybe the lessons are a bit boring, so what.how...how..
what, what could make the lessons more interesting ?

M:

You can tell some interesting things, give some examples and some.and
or maybe say something to the students, maybe they will feel the English
is more fun than the other subjects.

P:

I will follow your advice. Next year because this year is almost over!
Thank you very much for a wonderful interview.

M:

Youre welcome.

P:

Goodbye.

M:

Goodbye.

35

45

50

55

***end of interview***

Transcription (Interview 8) (Page 2 of 2)

- 85 -

Appendix Seventeen: Pilot Questionnaire

(SAMPLE)
Please tick () the most suitable box that matches your opinion about the given statement:
STRONGLY
AGREE

AGREE

DISAGREE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

STRONGLY
AGREE

AGREE

DISAGREE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

STRONGLY
AGREE

AGREE

DISAGREE

STRONGLY
DISAGREE

1) I enjoy learning English

2) I like speaking English
3) I think English is important

4) I think learning English in the English

lessons is easy
5) I understand what my teacher is saying
in the English lessons easily
6) I speak English and take part in the
English lessons easily
7) I feel my English lessons are fun and
enjoyable
8) In English lessons, I like to learn and
listen to what the teacher is saying
9) I would like the teacher to help me more
in English lessons
10) I feel what I learn in the English lessons
is useful
In the future,
11) I want to learn more English
12) I want to be a better speaker of English
13) I want to speak English more
confidently
TOO
FAST

FAST

ALRIGHT

SLOW

TOO
SLOW

14) How does the teacher speak in English

lessons ?
15) How does the teacher teach in English
lessons ?

Pilot Questionnaire (Page 1 of 1)

- 86 -

Appendix Eighteen: Post-Questionnaire

(SAMPLE)
This questionnaire is about why you take part in English lessons.
It is also about what is important to you when you are having English lessons AND what
makes you take part in English lessons.
Blacken your choices please.
e.g.
Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly
Agree

Strongly Disagree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

How I feel about English lessons

1
2
3
4

I like the subject English

I like the activities in the English
lesson
I know English is useful and I want
to practise and learn more
I like the teacher

How I feel about the teacher praising me

5
6

It is very important that the teacher

tells me I am doing well in class
I feel very happy when the teacher
praises me and I want to do even
better
I will still do my best even if the
teacher says nothing to me

How I feel about my classmates praising me lessons

8
9
10

It is very important that my

classmates praise me
If my classmates praise me, I will
speak more and do even more
I will still do my best even if I dont
get any praise from anyone

What makes me want to participate in my English lessons

11
12
13
14

The most important person is me

and how I feel
It is most important that I know I
am doing well from others
Getting prizes and winning stickers
Learning as much as I can

Post Questionnaire (Page 1 of 2)

- 87 -

Please write 1 to 8 about things that are most important to you in English lessons:
1 most important / very important
8 not important / not so important

Getting prizes, stickers and gifts

Teacher telling me I am good and have done well

Classmates telling me I am good and have done well

My feeling and mood on the day of the lesson

Learning as much as I can in the lesson

The kind of activity we are having in the lesson

Winning in an activity or competition

Knowing English is important and therefore useful

YOU CAN ALSO PUT ONE OR TWO REASONS BY YOURSELF

Would you like to write in your own words why you LIKE or DONT LIKE English
lessons, learning English and taking part in English lesson activities ?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Also, can you give some suggestions how to improve English lessons to make them more
interesting for you ?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

- THANK YOU -

Post Questionnaire (Page 2 of 2)

- 88 -

Appendix Nineteen: Analysis of Questionnaires

AN OVERVIEW OF RESULTS OF QUESTIONNAIRES

An overview of results of questionnaires
As there were two questionnaires conducted one at the beginning of the research
before any implementation or lessons with motivational elements introduced and
the other at the end of the entire research timeframe, they will be looked at as separate
entities to draw the findings independently and then compared and contrasted. For
triangulation purposes, they will be compared and contrasted with the interview
findings.

The pilot questionnaire

This was conducted in early March, 2011. 26 participants spent five minutes
filling in a questionnaire which had statements whereby the participants would agree
or disagree in intensities to the statements offered. As the questionnaires are ticked
with choices, a quantitative method was used to aggregate the findings. The
questionnaire was divided into four portions: the first about their perspective in
learning English (matching with Code R their relationship and attitudes with the
subject, the purpose was to see how much intrinsic motivation played in class
motivation and interaction. The second portion was to evaluate their feelings towards
English lessons and the English teacher, the purpose of which was to check on
activities and abilities to interact with those activities including scaffolding. The third
portion was to ascertain general future aspirations as far as language acquisition was
concerned. The last portion was the pace of the lesson. The findings have been put
into SIX different pie charts to show the percentile of agreements and disagreements.
Please see Figures 17-22 for each corresponding section. Short descriptions are given
with percentage figures to accommodate and facilitate a quick perusal and
understanding of the outcomes.
The following pie-charts show results percentile of participants responses to the
enjoyment of learning English, speaking English and the attitude that English is
important of the Pilot Questionnaire. This encompasses the deep intrinsic motivation
of enjoyment, learning and positive attitudes of the participants towards the
acquisition of English. From the pie charts, the figures suggest that students are
intrinsically motivated as they enjoy learning English, speaking English and feel that
English is important to them.

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 1 of 15)

- 89 -

Percentile of students who enjoy learning English.

Strongly
Agree
42%

Agree
54%

Disagree
4%

Percentile of students who enjoy speaking English.

Strongly
Agree
38%
Agree
58%

Disagree
4%

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 2 of 15)

- 90 -

Percentile of students who think English is important.

Strongly
Agree
42%

Agree
54%

Disagree
4%

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 3 of 15)

- 91 -

For the second portion which assesses students feelings about English lessons, how
they are conducted, the English teacher and participation in the classroom reflecting
both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational elements. The intrinsic motivation elements
would be usefulness of the lessons, voluntary participatory modes, enjoyment from
fun in the classroom and willingness to interact and learn. The extrinsic motivational
elements would be ambience of the classroom, the teachers style and demeanour,
amicability of the teacher, contents of the lessons, strategies and scaffolding bringing
about success through interactional activities such as games, competitions and other
forms of groupwork as well as rewards and praise. The results have been
amalgamated into one pie chart. Please see Figure 20. The pie chart suggests that an
overwhelmingly 96% enjoy English lessons, feel the teacher is helpful and friendly
and participate in lessons voluntarily suggesting that they are intrinsically motivated.

Percentile of students who enjoy English lessons, are voluntarily participatory

and find English lessons fun, useful and the English teacher helpful and amiable.

Agree
50%

Strongly
Agree
46%

Disagree
4%

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 4 of 15)

- 92 -

The third portion of the pilot questionnaire centres on students feelings and future
aspirations of wanting to learn English and to be better and more confident speakers
of the language. This was an assessment of how stable, enduring and projectile their
intrinsic motivation is to persevere and invest in the learning of the language. The
results of the three short statements have been amalgamated into one pie chart.
Please see Figure 21. The pie chart suggests that students have a desire to improve
and be more confident speakers of the language.

Percentile of students who have feelings and aspirations to become better and
more confident speakers of the English language which suggest strong intrinsic
motivational traits.

Strongly
Agree
42%

Agree
54%

Disagree
4%

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 5 of 15)

- 93 -

The fourth and final portion of the pilot questionnaire centres on the pace of speech
and teaching by the teacher in English lessons. This matches directly with some of
the comments made by the participants in the interviews whereby they indicated that
the slow pace and repetitions made by the teacher were demotivating in general,
sometimes even causing bouts of boredom, although they reasoned it with the
necessity to register the important points the teacher was making and assuring that
one and all were clear in class of what was being communicated, be it instructions,
grammatical tenets or certain aspects of content and topic comprehension. The
results of the two statements have been amalgamated into one pie chart. Please see
Figure 22.

Percentile of students who indicated whether the pace of English lessons are
ideal, too fast or too slow. It has linkage with motivational elements as described
and communicated by a few participants in the interviews.

Alright
76%

Slow
8%
Fast
8%

Too slow
4%

Too fast
4%

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 6 of 15)

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Analysis of the pilot questionnaire

Reviewing the figures that are illustrated in the pie charts, and tabulating the highest
percentages of each group into one table, the figures suggest that participants were
largely intrinsically motivated. As this questionnaire was completed before any of
the action research cycles had begun, these features that existed show that students in
the case study class were already quite aware of the importance of English, its
usefulness and enjoyed the process of acquisition of the language. Furthermore, in
conjunction with my observations as their English teacher for the past three years, I
have also seen a general willingness to speak, interact and stepping out of their
comfort zones in class in order to give reports, participate in games and competitions,
do presentations, answer questions by the teacher and ask questions when in doubt as
well as to try out new language items and structures taught to them. The results in the
table below indicate a cohesiveness with my set of observations done prior to any
deliberate form of intervention of any motivational strategies.
Component

Criteria

enjoyment of learning English

enjoyment of speaking English

3
4
5
6

acknowledging the importance of

English
enjoyment of participating
in English lessons
having aspirations to improve
and be confident speakers of English

Percentages
54% agree
42% strongly agree
58% agree
38% strongly agree
54% agree
42% strongly agree
50% agree
46% strongly agree
54% agree
42% strongly agree

pace of English lessons suitable

76% agree

Figure 23. Table showing the piloting of this questionnaire was deemed necessary as
the wording, phrasing and operationalizing was crucial to conduct the more extensive
questionnaire at the end of the research. It was also to judge if participants could
comprehend the contents, understand how to fill in the questionnaire correctly and
sincerely, to check if any ambiguities or miscomprehension would emerge and to
safeguard that the next questionnaire could be smoothly and efficiently carried out.
As Oppenheim (1992: 48) states in Cohen et al (2006:341), everything about the
questionnaire should be piloted; nothing should be excluded, not even the type face or
the quality of the paper. As commented upon by many previous researchers such as
Oppenheim 1992; Morrison 1993; Wilson and McLean 1994:47, a pilot has several
functions, principally to increase the reliability, validity and practicability of the
questionnaire (Cohen et al, 2006:341). Additionally, it also works to triangulate the
results of the final questionnaire as well as the findings from the interviews. The
running of this questionnaire, I feel, also enabled and gave a preview to the
participants for the much longer and more elaborate questionnaire that was to come.

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 7 of 15)

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Analysis of the post-action research questionnaire

This questionnaire was completed by all 26 participants when all the action research
cycles were completed in the seven recorded lessons and was conducted at the end of
June, 2011 days before the end of the academic year before these Primary Six
students were to receive their results for secondary school placements. The layout of
the questionnaire was mapped out in one piece of F4 paper (both sides) into three
sections. Section One was sub-divided into four sub-sections assessing feelings of
intensities of agreeing and disagreeing with offered statements about English lessons,
praise from teachers, praise and acknowledgement from peers and motivational
elements to participate in English lessons. Section Two was a rank ordering of eight
motivational elements to assess which ones were most appealing, supportive and
potent in the classroom, according to these 26 participants. The last section was an
optional part with open-ended questions requesting any comments, input, suggestions
and additional information the participants would care to include prompted by short
captioned questions on likes and dislikes of participation in English lessons and
suggestions on how to improve English lessons in order to make them more appealing,
interesting and motivational. Bearing in mind that since not all 26 participants were
interviewed, this questionnaires role was to obtain responses on similar areas of
concern such as feelings and attitudes of learning English, praise, participation as well
as what motivated the students and what improvements as far as motivational
strategies could be enhanced in order to raise motivational levels in the classroom.
Section One of this questionnaire was devised to find out feelings about English,
praise and participation. The results are organized in the bar graphs below for easy
perusal and understanding
Intensity of feelings and attitudes towards English,
English lessons and the teacher.
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

Like English

Like English
Lessons

Think English is Like the Teacher

Useful and want
to Improve

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 8 of 15)

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From the graphs, it is evident that most students like English and English lessons. An
even higher number feel English is important. There are mixed feelings about liking
the English teacher but more of the students like the teacher than those who dont.
The ones who may have ticked that they do not like the teacher could attribute from
the fact that the teacher scolds them or has an unfriendly disposition in class and
exerts some form of pressure on them as homework and assignments needed to be
handed in on time. Anyone who breached this bore the brunt of the teachers wrath.
From the results of this part of the questionnaire, it can be safely said that the
majority of the participants are intrinsically motivated and have a positive and healthy
relationship with English, learning and lesson participation. This is in line with the
findings of the interviews and the pilot interview.
Section Two dealt with praise from the teacher and peers. This included how many
of them felt praise was important from the teacher and would be a motivating element.
From the bar graphs, again it is evidenced that most students do find praise a
motivating element whether it comes from the teacher or from peers. In the
statements in the questionnaire, it says I feel very happy when the teacher / my
classmates praise me and I want to do even better. The term motivation was not
used in any of the statements in the questionnaire as it was deemed difficult for the
participants to understand and for the sake of validity, simpler phrases like makes me
want to do better or I will speak more and do even more were used instead
implying virtually the same thing. The results in Figure 25 show that praise is a
motivating element and raises participation and involvement in lessons.

Intensity of feelings and attitudes towards praise

and praise from the teacher and peers as a motivating element
20
Strongly Agree

18
16

Agree

14
12

Disagree

10
8

Strongly Disagree

6
4
2
0
Teacher praise
important

Motivated by
teacher praise

Peer praise
important

Motivated by peer
praise

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 9 of 15)

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On the counter side of it, two statements also appeared stating I will still do my best
even if I dont get praise from anyone to which the following bar graphs show the
results. See Figure 26.

Intensity of feelings and attitudes of participation in the classroom

without motivational element of praise
20

Strongly Agree

18
16

Agree

14

Disagree

12
10

Strongly Disagree

8
6
4
2
0
Praise from the teacher irrespective Praise from peers irrespective of
of motivational levels
motivational levels

From the bar graphs above in Figure 26, a very high percentage of students felt that
praise was not relevant to motivation. This must be explained further that praise was
a motivating element (as seen in Figure 25) but these graphs suggest the fact that the
students feel they are motivated with or without any form of praise which again
points to the intrinsic nature of their motivation. As a motivating element, praise did
play its part in giving encouragement which was again mentioned many times in the
interviews but yet, from the interviews, it was not the leading motivating element as
many participants did not rank praise as their number one choice of what could make
the lessons more interesting or was offered as a suggestion for the teacher to adopt.

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 10 of 15)

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The last component of the first part of the questionnaire stipulated four different
motivators in the classroom, namely, their feeling or attitude towards the lesson,
praise from others, getting prizes, rewards or some form of material gain and the
simple motivating element of learning. Figure 27 shows the results of this part of the
questionnaire in bar graphs. Those shown as disagreeing and strongly disagreeing
have opted to indicate that motivational elements were not responsible in raising
motivational levels in the classroom.
Effectiveness of motivational elements such as attitude and relationship
towards the subject, praise, prizes and rewards
and the motivational element of learning a language.
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

Attitude &
relationship with
language

Praise

Prizes & Reward

Learning more

From the bar graphs above, motivational levels are suggested to be affected by all
four elements especially praise and the desire to learn more. The attitude and positive
relationship the participants have also rank high in motivating them as do the rewards
and prizes they get. As this is not a rank scale, and therefore not a graph seeing
which of the elements propel motivational levels in the classroom the highest, it can
be evidenced by the graphs that all four motivating elements do play their parts in
raising participation, interaction and involvement by students in the English
classroom. This is very much in line with what the interviewees had stated in the
interviews before they completed the questionnaires. They had all given affirmative
answers to these four motivational strategies. The only element that got strongly
disagree responses shows that for rewards and prizes, it was probably the least
motivating and again this was evidenced by what some of the interviewees said of
rewards and prizes being not so important.

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 11 of 15)

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Analysis of rank scale of motivational strategies

This was the second part of the questionnaire where participants were asked to rank
their preferences of motivational elements accordingly. It was a very important part
of the questionnaire as it informs which strategies were most effective in direct
response to the research question what motivational strategies best support, improve
and enhance learning. For rank ordering, it was stated in Cohen et al (2006: 325) that
five items would best suit this form of enquiry and that it is unrealistic to ask
respondents to arrange priorities where there are more than five ranks that have been
requestedbut the request can be made to the respondents only to rank their first five
priorities. This was not followed and eight items namely, prizes and gifts, praise,
peer praise, attitude, desire for learning, class activity, the feeling of victory and
accomplishment, the knowledge that English is important and useful were included.
The results of this part are shown in the pie chart. As some of the participants ranked
a few items as their first choice giving multiple yet same importance to the items, this
has all been taken into account and reflected in the pie chart below (Figure 28). It
should be emphasized here that a rank of top preference does not negate a rank of
second or third preference. As some participants may feel two items equally
important but not knowing they could rank both 1, they opt to rank one of them as
1 and the other 2. Similarly, as they were not told beforehand that they could
rank a few items 1, some of them took it upon themselves to do so suggesting that
there were some items of equal importance to them. To validate and make the
responses more reliable, Figures 29 and 30 are therefore pie charts showing top
second-ranked and third-ranked motivational strategies and the three diagrams
should be looked at together to give a more accurate and overall picture of the choices
from the participants for fairer conclusions to be made.

First-ranked preferences of motivational elements in the local classroom by

respondents in the second component of the questionnaire. Teacher praise, peer
praise and sense of accomplishment all ranked between 3-4%.

Desire for
learning
31%
Class activity
11%

Prizes & rewards

16%

Importance &
usefulness
16%
Attitude
11%

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 12 of 15)

- 100 -

Second-ranked preferences of motivational strategies in the local classroom by

respondents in the second component of the questionnaire. The smallest part in
the pie chart is sense of victory and accomplishment which took 4%.

Desire for
Class activity learning
13%
13%

Importance &
usefulness
17%

Peer
Praise
9%

Teacher Praise
22%

Attitude
22%

Third-ranked preferences of motivational strategies in the local classroom by

respondents in the second component of the questionnaire. The smallest
percentage (5%) was desire for learning.

Sense of victory
13%
Class activity
24%
Peer Praise
18%

Importance &
usefulness
13%
Attitude
18%

Teacher
Praise
9%

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 13 of 15)

- 101 -

From the pie charts above, it can be elucidated that desire for learning, an intrinsic
motivating element ranked first place with 31% and 13% second place adding to 44%
of the participants first and second choices this is in line with their interview
responses that the desire to learn more and improve is very strong in their minds.
Also, from the pie charts, usefulness and importance of the language was 16%, 17%
and 13% ranked first, second and third respectively adding to 46% of this
motivational element ranking among the first three choices. The acknowledgement
that English is useful and important was also mentioned in the interviews by the
participants on their own accord also an intrinsic motivation in the minds of the
participants who know English has a useful and important position in Hong Kong.
Looking at Figure 28 for first-choice motivational elements, prizes and gifts at 16%
got no ranking for second or third preferences matches the assertion that prizes and
gifts are important extrinsic motivators but are not imperative in the minds of most
students who are already intrinsically motivated. Looking at Figure 27 for prizes and
rewards, the results suggest that it is a motivating element but with many disagreeing
and saying the contrary. Prizes and rewards took 16% of first-choice ranking but
did not appear in the second or third-choice rankings.
Another indicator of intrinsic motivation that the pie charts suggest is the item
importance and usefulness of the English language in Hong Kong attaining 16% of
first-choice rankings, 17% of second-choice rankings and 13% of third-choice
rankings adding to 46% for the first three rankings
Initial findings after the pilot questionnaire was conducted, indicated strong leanings
towards intrinsic motivation. In my three years with this group of students, I have
regularly encountered their option to learn more and to complete another unit of study
given the choice to revise or play a game or have an interesting groupwork activity
instead. The desire to learn, improve and engage in learning has always been
demonstrated to me by their choices and verbal inferences. This has always reflected
in their constant acknowledgement in class, or in discussions throughout these three
years, that English is important to them and in their studies and is a springboard for
them to attain higher education and the realization of their dreams.
Analysis of open-ended questions
The last part of the questionnaire was an opportunity for all 26 participants to write
some comments, suggestions or give some input from two open-ended questions
which were why they liked or didnt like English lessons and what suggestions could
they give to improve English lessons and make them more interesting (indirectly
asking what motivational elements could be installed and put into place). Of the 26
participants, six decided not to voice their opinions and did not write anything down.

Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 14 of 15)

- 102 -

The two tables below show the comments made by the other 20 they have been
grouped for easy perusal
Responses to the open-ended question why the participants like or do not like
taking part in English lessons.
Comments
- like because it is fun
- like because the activities are interesting
- like because English is very useful
- like because the teacher is kind and teaches us a lot of things
- like because I can learn many things
- like because it is funny
- do not like because we cannot play games

Total
6
4
3
3
3
1
1

Responses to the open-ended question how to improve English lessons to make

them more interesting.
Comments
- play more games once or twice a week to improve our English
- make the lessons more fun such as funny jokes in the lessons
- teach quicker
- be able to listen to more English
- learn more things without the textbook (extra-curricular contents)
- act more in the lessons (indicating drama or dramatics)

Total
12
3
2
1
1
1

Participants primarily felt English lessons were fun, the activities were interesting and
useful. The relationship between the teacher and students also accounted for
motivating participants to take part as well as the desire to learn. The one negative
response that was put down was the lack of games in English lessons which matched
directly to the responses given for the second open-ended question of how lessons
could be improved. The suggestions given were to organize more games, make
lessons more fun in contents and manner, hasten the pace of instruction, include
contents outside textbooks and increase drama activities.
Summation of Analysis
The responses of the two questionnaires seem to suggest and be in line with what was
explored and ascertained in the interviews. The motivational levels raised by
motivational strategies do play their part in the classroom. In addition to this, the
participants in this case study show high proportions of intrinsic motivation. From
my observations, too, it was a very highly-motivated class and from what the results
suggest: intrinsic motivational elements were already much in place boosted by
additional motivational strategies resulting in highly-participated lessons with
interaction and student involvement. The recorded lessons (Enclosure 1) can be
evidenced to show the same. The readiness and attitudes shown in the recorded
lessons speak for themselves and clearly demonstrate the willingness and high
motivation prevalent in the English lessons throughout these years of my teaching and
interactions with this case study group.
Analysis of Questionnaires (Page 15 of 15)

- 103 -

FIGURES & TABLES

Figure 1: Vygotskys Socio-Cultural Theory

internalization

collaborative
achievement

shared problem
space
Vygotskys
Socio-Cultural
Theory

interactions with
negoations

mediating tools

rich cultural context

+ shared experiences

Figure 1 :

A connecting concept that embodies or integrates key elements of the

theory: the emphasis on social activity and cultural practices as
sources of thinking, the importance of mediation in human
psychological functioning, the centrality of pedagogy in
development, and the inseparability of the individual from the
social. - Vygotsky (1978)

- 104 -

Figure 2: Dornyeis Motivational Dimensions

Macro-context
related
relationships
Affective
elements:
feelings,
emotions
and attitudes

Cognitive
Motivation

Teacher-specific
Motivation
components

Motivational
Forces

Pragmatic:
needs and goalsrelated
(extrinsic
motivaton)

Self-concept
related: selfefficacy, anxiety

- 105 -

interest,
relevance,
curiosity
(intrinsic
motivation)

Figure 3: Krashens Theories of Motivation

Meaning interaction /
natural communication

comprehensible input
(i + 1)

Monitor System

Motivation by
way of
teaching and
behaving

The natural order

hypothesis / output

affective filter

- 106 -

Figure 4: Sullivans Motivational Language

informing
consolidating
expanding learning

Motivation
Language

acknowledgement a tool for

motivation

Figure 4:

giving praise and

positive feedback

to include the impact of three kinds of speech acts uncertaintyreducing acts

(perlocutionary),
meaning-making
acts
(locutionary) and human-bonding acts
(illocutionary) on
motivation is proposed Sullivan (1988).

- 107 -

Figure 5: Time Frame of Action Research

March 2011
1 Initial Questionnaire (done in classroom; duration of 6 minutes)

1.

End of March 2011 to June 2011

Implementation of motivational strategies into the classroom
(recording of SEVEN English Oral Lessons into SIX component
lesson parts

March 2011
1. In-depth questionnaire for participants conducted (also done in the
classroom; duration of 10 minutes)
2. Eight one-on-one interviews were conducted (about 5-7 minutes
each)

Figure 5:

A straightforward cycle of identifying a problem, planning an

intervention, implementing the intervention, evaluating the outcome,
reflective practice, participatory practitioner research (Cohen et al,
2006).

- 108 -

Table 1: Time-table of the case study class (2010-2011)

TIME

MON

TUES

8:45 9:25
9:25 - 10:05
10:05 10:25
10:25 11:05
11:05 11:45
11:45 12:25
12:25 1:25
1:25 1:55
1:55 - 2:30
2:30 3:05
3:05 - 3:20

WED

THURS

RECESS

LUNCH BREAK

Key:
English Lesson

- 109 -

FRI

Table 2: Table outlining the main particulars of the 8 interviewees

Names*

Age

Sex

Oracy

Academic
results

General
Participation
in class

Family
background

Kylie

11

High

High

Fair to low

Middle-class

Katrina

11

High

High

Average

Steven

11

High

Fair

Very high

Liam

10

High

Average

Very high

Katey

10

Fair

Poor

Very high

Maxwell

10

Average

Average

High

Clara

11

Average

High

Low

Maria

12

Average

High

Fair to low

Note. * pseudonyms

- 110 -

Lower middleclass
Lower middleclass
Lower middleclass
Lower middleclass
Middle-class
Lower middleclass
Lower middleclass

Table 3: Matching the questions with elements in the theoretical realm

Prepared Question

Corresponding Research Questions /

Theories on Motivation

- do you like English and why

- intrinsic or extrinsic motivation

- lessons with Mr. Prakash ?

- what part of the English

lessons ?

- kinds of activities

- praise

- praise, rewards & prizes

- games

- contents

- teacher-specific motivation components (Dornyei,

1994)
- scaffolding (Vygotsky, 1978)
- comprehensive input (Krashen, 1981)
- restructuring language output
- interest, relevance, curiosity (intrinsic)
- cognitive motivation (intrinsic)
- rewards, prizes, marks (extrinsic)
- Monitor system (Krashen, 1981)
- cognitive motivation (intrinsic)
- interactions with negotiations (Vygotsky, 1978)
- mediating tools (Vygotsky, 1978)
- collaborative achievement (Vygotsky, 1978)
- language in motivation (Sullivan, 1988)
- teacher-specific motivation components (Dornyei,
1994)
- extrinsic motivation
- language in motivation (Sullivan, 1988)
- teacher-specific motivation components (Dornyei,
1994)
- cognitive motivation (intrinsic)
- interactions with negotiations (Vygotsky, 1978)
- mediating tools (Vygotsky, 1978)
- collaborative achievement (Vygotsky, 1978)
- intrinsic motivation (curiosity, relevance and interest)
- extrinsic motivation (Dornyei, 1994)
- cognitive motivation (Dornyei, 1994)
- scaffolding & mediating tools (Vygotsky, 1978)

- 111 -

ENCLOSURES

Enclosure 1: Recordings of English Oral Lessons (6 discs)

- 112 -

Enclosure 2: Recording of 8 Interviews (1 disc)

- 113 -