The Effects of Selected Motivational Strategies on Student Motivation to Become Gradually More Interested in L2

Bc. Šárka Opluštilová

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The main aim of this thesis was to confirm my presumption that it is possible to motivate demotivated students of English to become more interested in learning English. The second aim of this thesis to evaluate the effectiveness of the selected motivational strategies. In the theoretical part of the thesis some underlying facts and past research findings on motivation to study L2 were compiled. The research problem had been expressed as Effects of Selected Motivational Strategies on Student Motivation to Become Gradually More Interested in Learning L2. To be able to depict the effects of the strategies better, 11 research questions were articulated, all of them based on the theoretical background. I decided to conduct a longitudinal experimental research and as a measuring tool I used a questionnaire with close-ended items to get quantitative data. The participants of the research were my Czech secondary students, aged 15 – 17. The experimental research took almost twenty weeks. During the research 14 motivational strategies were applied to enhance the students´ interest and attitudes towards the English language.At the end of the research I administered the same questionnaire, which was administered in September, again with the aim of comparing the students´ responses from September to February to see whether their attitudes had changed and whether they had become more interested in English language.

Keywords

motivation, motivational strategies, demotivation, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, research, interest, attitudes, to motivate, teacher, learner, experimental research, quantitative data, questionnaire

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 26. 5. 2008

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 9. 6. 2008
• Supervisor: B.A. Nicola Catherine Fořtová, M.A.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Master programme / field:
Teacher Training for Secondary Schools / Upper Secondary School Teacher Training in English Language and Literature