Language Teaching Materials and Learner Motivation

Language Teaching Materials and Learner Motivation

by Ifti Luthviana

Success in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) depends on a variety of factors such as the amount of exposure to the natural target language practice, the duration and intensity of the language course, and last but not the least, the characteristics of the language learner. Motivation, one element of the learner characteristics that has the most important factors in in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Cohen and Dörnyei (2002) contended that motivation is the key learner variable and nothing much happens without it. The more motivation they may have, the more effort they tend to put into learning the language. Therefore, teachers’ biggest concern is always whether students are well motivated and willing to learn what they teach.

Language teaching materials are having a very important effect and role in language learning and teaching activities. It showed that motivation could come from teaching materials. Therefore, this speech today will be focused on how different materials motivate students.

There are many factors which affect student's motivation towards teaching materials, such as the interest in the subject matter, the level of difficulty, the relevance to existing knowledge, and the perception of usefulness.

The first category, is the interest in the subject matter, it is related to intrinsic motivation and it focused on the individual’s inherent curiosity and desire to know more about something, they enjoy working with that subject matter. Interest can hold students attention, encourage effort, and support learning activity. Yet, there are many ways to attract their interest, for example in teaching reading the teacher can give Authentic materials or “real-life texts”, which are not written for pedagogic purposes. Like “up-to-date newspaper or news” and related to hot topic. Guariento & Morley (2001) stated that extracting real information from a real text in a new/different language can be extremely motivating, therefore increasing students' motivation for learning can be by exposing them to 'real' language. Authentic texts can be motivating because it has been proven that the language is used for real-life purposes and giving the reader the opportunity to gain real information and know what is going on in the world around them. Another example is using pictures, one of visual materials that could attract students’ interest and attention. The more the teacher uses visual and audio materials during the course, the better students concentrate on the lesson.

The second is the level of difficulty. it concerns in the difficulty of material and students familiarity with the task type. For example when reading a text about something that the students are not familiar with and the degree of difficulty is beyond their caability, they find it difficult to comprehend the materials or maybe they use a dictionary many times to check vocabulary As a result, they felt that the material was unsatisfying. It shows that the difficulty of teaching materials decreases motivation. The level of difficulty can be considered as the most important factor. It is not surprising that students are more willing to participate in a task if it does not require too much effort. And one of the most demotivating factors for learners is when they have to learn something that they are not familiar with.

The third is relevant to their knowledge. It refers to the extent to which the student feels that the material is connected to important personal needs, values, or goals. For example teacher should try to create learning materials that are relevant to students' lives. One of effective strategies is connecting the subject with your students' culture, outside interests or social lives. Cunningsworth (1984) also stressed that the materials should meet students’ needs: “Students particularly more sophisticated adults need to feel that the materials from which they are learning have to be connected with the real world and at the same time they must be related positively to the aspects of their inner make up such as age, level of education, social attitudes, the intellectual ability and level of emotional maturity.”

The last is the perception of usefulness. Or Exploitability which refers to how the material or text can be used to develop the students’ competence as readers. So, a text that can not be exploited for teaching purposes has no use in the classroom. Just because it is in English does not mean that it can be useful. For example, a student is interested in the material since they think it is not difficult for them and it is useful in his everyday life. Another example is when the topic of the material is related to their future work or background, so that they may think that the material is useful to support their dream. According to this research, students will be motivated to learn when they regard the material as worth learning.

Therefore, it can be concluded the teacher must understand the importance and effects of teaching materials in language learning. Moreover, we must consider many factors that affect student's motivation towards teaching materials: the interest in the subject matter, the level of difficulty, the relevance to existing knowledge, and the perception of usefulness.