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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 232 (2016) 83 – 89

International Conference on Teaching and Learning English as an Additional Language,

GlobELT 2016, 14-17 April 2016, Antalya, Turkey

The Libyan EFL Teachers’ Role in Developing Students’ Motivation

Areej Ali Alhodirya*
a
University of Sebha, Faculty of Atrs, Sebha, Libya

Abstract

Motivation is inseparable aspect in any foreign language teaching and learning. In this regard, this study investigated the Libyan
EFL teachers' role in improving EFL students’ motivation. The aim was to find out what strategies and techniques are used by the
Libyan EFL teachers to motivate their students. Sixty Libyan EFL students and five Libyan EFL teachers formed the participants
of the study. Classroom observation, students’ questionnaires and teachers' interview were used as data collection tools to gain
insight into various aspects of the study. The results revealed that most of the Libyan EFL teachers use various strategies to motivate
their learners.
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of GlobELT 2016
Keywords: Motivation; second language aquisition ; teaching strategies

1. Introduction

In recent years, the teacher’s role has been changed by the effect of motivation. There has been a shift of emphasis
from instructional techniques to developing learning techniques. Today the teacher’s role leans more towards a
facilitator and a guide on the side to increase student motivation and develop the skills or the strategies that make a
student more competent and to structure the learning environment so that students are able to take ownership of their
own learning. Fortunately, many of the strategies that "empower" and "engage" students also lead to increased
motivation, Theroux (1994, P. 3).

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +218927662814; fax: +218918979068.

E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-0428 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of GlobELT 2016
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.10.020
84 Areej Ali Alhodiry / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 232 (2016) 83 – 89

Teachers have an important role in enhancing their students’ motivational level. A student may arrive to the class
with a certain degree of motivation, but the teacher’s behavior, teaching style and the kind of interaction with the
students all have a large effect in determining the teacher’s role in developing the students’ motivation. As it has been
noticed by the researcher there is a huge variation in the levels of motivation among the students in Faculty of Arts
University of Sebah, Department of English. This research is an attempt to investigate the part that the Libyan teachers
play to evaluate and develop students’ motivation.

1.1. Research goals

This study aims to investigate the role of Libyan EFL Teachers in developing students’ motivation. It also attempts
to:
x Classify the factors of motivation such as: classroom environment, teacher personality, skills and ability of the
teacher, rewards and relationship with the teacher. And their affect towards learning a foreign language .
x Recognize the relationship between the components of motivation; (need, drive, goal) and learning strategies.
x Recognize the relationship between the teachers’ behavior in the classroom and the students’ motivation.

2. Literature review

2.1. Concept of motivation

According to Cambridge Advanced Dictionary (2008), motivation is "the enthusiasm for doing something," while
in Oxford Dictionary (2009), motivation is defined as "a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way"
Additionally, some second language acquisition researchers have defined motivation in terms of two
considerations: learner's communicative needs, and their attitudes toward the second language community. Motivation
is defined as the force that causes people to achieve goals. In the cognitive developmental theory, motivation is
perceived as ''a built-in unconscious striving towards more complexities and differentiated development of the
individual's mental structures'', Oxford & Shearin, (1994, P.23.). This idea is also emphasized by Gardner (1978,
P.164) by saying that:
It really is impossible to give a simple definition of motivation, though one can list many characteristics of the
motivated individual, for example, the motivated individual is goal directed, is attentive, has desires (wants), exhibits
a positive effect, is aroused, has expectancies, demonstrates self-confidence (self-efficacy), and has reasons.
(Penny, 2006, P. 74) stated that:
The abstract term “motivation” on its own is rather difficult to define. It is easier and more useful to think in terms of the
“motivated” learner one who is willing or even eager to invest effort in learning activities and to progress. Learner motivation
makes teaching and learning immeasurably easier and more pleasant as well as more productive.
According to (Richard, 1999) to be motivated means to be moved to do something under the inspiration and
encouragement by the teachers to act.

2.2. Motivation types:

If learners need to speak the second language in social situations or to achieve a professional level or work
objective, they will understand the importance of the foreign language and be motivated to learn it. Likewise, if learners
have favorable attitudes towards the language or the native speakers of the language, they will try to establish contact
with them. The idea behind those two terms had been used to describe these objectives by some scholars: ‘Instrumental
motivation and integrative motivation’ (Keblawi, 2006).
Gardner and Lambert (1972) used the term instrumental motivation to refer to motivation that is very practical,
such as that which is concerned with getting a better job. The term integrative motivation was applied to motivation
that relates to a wish to know more about the culture and community of a foreign language group and become part of
it. As Keblawi (2006) illustrates in his research, the extent of motivation could vary greatly from one individual to
another. Thus, while one learner might be only mildly motivated to learn a second language for occupation purposes,
another learner might have an intense motivation to achieve those objectives. For example, foreign students learning
 Areej Ali Alhodiry / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 232 (2016) 83 – 89 85

English in the United States are often found to be fairly balanced in their desire to learn English for both academic
(an instrumental objective) purposes and to become somewhat integrated with the culture and people of the United
States (an integral objective).
Another view of motivation is the degree to which learners are ''intrinsically'' or ''extrinsically'' motivated. (Deci,
1985) defined intrinsic motivation as:
Activities for which there is no apparent reward except the activity itself. People seem to engage in them for their own sake and
not because they lead to a reward. Intrinsically motivated behaviors seem to bring about internally rewarding consequences,
such as feelings of competence…
In humans, intrinsic motivation is not the only form of motivation, but it is a pervasive and important one. Intrinsic
motivation exists within individuals, in another sense intrinsic motivation exists in the relation between individuals
and activities. People are intrinsically motivated for some activities and not others, and not everyone is intrinsically
motivated for any particular task. Because intrinsic motivation exists in the connection between a person and a task,
some authors have defined intrinsic motivation in terms of the task being interesting while others have defined it in
terms of the satisfactions a person gain from intrinsically (Deci & Ryan, 1985).
Ryan & Dec (1985) maintained that all behaviors are motivated by rewards such as food or money, intrinsically
motivated activities were said to be ones for which the reward was in the activity itself. In contrast, because learning
theory Ryan & Deci (1985) asserted that the physiological drives is the responsible for all behaviors are motivated.
Intrinsically motivated activities are said to be ones that provided satisfaction of innate psychotically needs. Thus,
researchers discover what basic needs are satisfied by intrinsically motivated behaviors. Intrinsic motivation has been
operationally defined in various ways, although there have been two measures that have been most often used. Basic
experimental research has rested primarily on a behavioral measure of intrinsic motivation called the ‘‘free choice’’
measure. In experiments using this measure participants are exposed to a task under varying conditions (e.g., getting
a reward or not). Many studies explained that good performance feedback improves intrinsic motivation whereas bad
performance feedback diminish it Ryan & Deci (1985).
Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, results from expecting a kind of reward, from outside one's self. Typical
extrinsic rewards are money, prizes, grades, and even certain kinds of positive feedback according to (Deci, 1985)
Extrinsic means external or outside of yourself. This type of motivation is everywhere and frequently used within
society. When you are motivated to achieve, learn or do something based on a highly regarded outcome, rather than
for the fun development or learning provided within an experience, you are being extrinsically motivated. Extrinsically
motivated students study for the sake of outside influence such as getting praise, good grade or any type of
reinforcement that teachers can offered (Novella, 2011). She also mentions some examples such as trophies, medals,
money, discounts, grades, entrance to programs or schools, higher commission percentages, new clothes and losing
weight are all examples of extrinsic motivation.

3. Research method

3.1. The participants

The participants in this study were both teachers and students. The students were 60 Libyan students of the first
semester at FAUS, Department of English. Aged from 19 to 21 years old male and female, they are from the same
environment and have an equivalent language background, those students studying English as a foreign language.
There were also 5 teachers of English as a foreign language, who teach English for more than 5 years.

3.2. The instruments

This study employed a mixed method designed, which includes both qualitative and quantitative research methods,
such method integrate both approaches to provide a much more detailed and comprehensive picture of that which is
being investigated.
86 Areej Ali Alhodiry / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 232 (2016) 83 – 89

The qualitative data (classroom observation, interviews) were collected after the quantitative data collection for
better understanding. In order to investigate the role of Libyan EFL teachers in developing students' motivation and in
what way it is effect with the students' motivation level, the researcher used the following tools for data collection:
A classroom observation: six classes were observed, to record the effectiveness of the teaching method, how the
student respond to the teacher's instructions, and the teacher-student relationship.
A questionnaire consisted of five parts (see appendix 1) the first two parts of the questionnaire are adapted to record
the student's intrinsic/ extrinsic motivation in learning English; this part of the questionnaire consists of 16 items
reflecting the intrinsic/extrinsic motivation. The third part contains 11 items deals with course content and
organization, aims to investigate the students' overview about the objective, workload, learning material and the
syllabus which their teachers use, in addition to the fourth part, the questionnaire contains about four items concern
about learning environment and the teaching method, while the fifth part consists of 29 items indicating teaching
effectiveness. The five-point Likert scale ranged from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" was used.
Interviews with five teachers were conducted. The teacher interview was divided into two parts. The first part
consists of six questions deals with the teacher-student relationship, while the second part concern about the teacher's
method and strategies in six questions also. The procedures:
For the classroom observation the researcher attended some classes, And take notes regarding the teachers'
procedure and the interaction of the students with it.
The researcher conducted the questionnaire to a number of students who had been observed before. The
questionnaire was given to the students in order to investigate their attitude towards the learning situation, their desire
to learn, and the kinds of motivation they have about the foreign language learning.
Having observed the teachers, they were interviewed in order to explore their teaching experiences and
investigate how they practice motivating students. They were also be asked about which motivational techniques are
more effective with their students. The interview was recorded and transcribed

3.3. The procedures

At the very beginning of the study, permission was gained from the teachers to classroom observation. The subjects
were not required to write or give their names.
The questionnaire was administered by the researcher and 60 students participated in completing the questionnaire
during their classes. The students were assured that the main objective of the researcher was investigating the teacher's
role in recognizing and developing their motivation.
Concerning the interviews, five Libyan teachers participated in the interview. They participate after the observation
of their classes. In-person interviews were used because they helped to establish the kind of relationship with the
teachers; the researcher interviewed each of the five teachers. However, the researcher recorded each interview in
order not to miss any of the teachers' answers. The researcher moved to semi-structured interview approach, though
the researcher had started with an organized approach, as the interview process, this style allowed the teachers' freer
expression. The information gathered through the interviews helped this researcher seek for different explanations of
the classroom observation data. The 12 questions were divided into two parts, the first one concerning the teacher-
student relationship, while the second one focus on the teachers' methods and technique.

4. The findings

This study aimed to find out what are the roles of Libyan EFL teachers can play in motivating first semester’s
students to learn English as a foreign language at FAUS. The results showed that most of the students are intrinsically
motivated, whereas there is some variation in the level of extrinsic motivation among the students. Furthermore, the
study revealed the students have a negative attitude towards the learning situation and their learning motivation
effected in a negative way by the teacher behavior in the classroom.
It is important to mention that one of the most important findings is the teachers’ personality and methods have an
enormous effect in shaping the learner’s motivation and attitudes toward learning TL. When a student comes to the
classroom with low intrinsic motivation, he could be motivated extrinsically by the motivational teacher’s choice of
approaches and personal styles. Finocchario (1981) states that:
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motivation is the feeling nurtured primarily by the classroom teacher in the learning situation. The moment of truth – the
enhancement of motivation – occurs when the teacher closes the classroom door, greets his students with a warm welcoming
smile and proceeds to interact with various individuals by making comments or asking questions which indicate personal
concerns.
The study has been conducted in a way where both quantitative and qualitative instruments were used. Crookes &
Schmidt (1991) stated that the discussion of motivational and attitudinal in second and foreign language learning
requires a variety of methodologies that do not rely on quantitative data but also in corporate qualitative data as well
in order to enable the researcher to recognize the perception of both of them in terms of the teachers’ role in developing
the students’ motivation toward learning English.
On the other hand, it should be acknowledged that there are some limitations to this study. First, the limited number
of the participants especially the teachers might not enhance the generalizability of the finding. Also, since this study
was conducted on the first semester’s students at FAUS whose motivational needs might be different from those in
advanced semesters and students from other Libyan universities, it should be noticed that the findings might not be
applicable to them.

5. Conclusion

To conclude with, there is no doubt that motivation is an important variable when examining successful foreign
language acquisition. It should be realized that making learners recognize a real need to accomplish learning goals and
providing them with the motivation to learn is one of the best steps teachers can take to facilitate learning success.
This is best conveyed by Bruner (1960, P.56): “the best way to create interest in a subject is to render it worth knowing,
which means to make the knowledge gained usable in one’s thinking beyond the situation in which learning has
accrued.” Thus, further researches are needed to shed more light on the investigated phenomenon from different
perspectives and try to give more attention to the other roles of the EFL teachers.

6. Recommendations

Depending directly on the findings of this study and realizing the crucial role of teachers in increasing the students’
motivation, the researcher likes to present some recommendations which might be beneficial to EFL teachers and those
who are responsible for educational process in FAUS:
x First thing teachers should be aware about is to establish a strong relationship with the students. Make them feel
secure, and they need to feel the real brotherhood. All students should feel as if they are a member of one family.
By doing this it will be easier for the teacher to achieve their goals and will help the students to involve on the
classroom environment.
x Teachers should create unthreatened and supportive classroom atmosphere. Adapting interesting activities,
putting up some inspiring picture which contains English proverbs on the wall are recommended because the
external atmosphere dose helps to motivate students. Students feel the sense of belongings, value and respect in a
supportive classroom (Jim Smith and Andrea Supurling 2001).
x Teacher's positive expectation about the students' learning level has great influence on student motivation. As
Jeremy Harmer (2008, P.44) notes, "To a very large degree, students expect to learn if their teachers expect them
to learn." As the relationship between teacher and students is well built, students will try to do what is asked out
of their teacher's expectation. However, the teacher's expectation also should be challenging but achievable, or it
will lower or destroy students' motivation.
x The teacher should explain their language teaching approach to their students, for instance, students should
realize that student-centered activities such as pair work or group activities designed to create an interactive
learning environment. In other words, motivation levels drop when students are unsure about why they should
perform certain language skills.
x It is recommended that foreign language teacher adopt the role of a facilitator rather than an authority figure in
the classroom to increase students’ motivation (Oxford & Shearin, 1994).
88 Areej Ali Alhodiry / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 232 (2016) 83 – 89

x It should be realized that integration of culture and language could function as positive attitude and further
motivation to study a foreign language (Gardner, 1985). This can be done easily by utilizing authentic material
and arranging some students’ visits to English speaking countries. At the same time, teachers should develop
students’ cross cultural awareness systematically rather than simply adopting the socio-cultural components to
satisfy students’ integrative orientations (Dornyei, 1994).
x In order to utilize technology effectively in teaching English, classrooms should be well equipped with adequate
numbers of technological devises (language labs, computer sets………..etc).
x It should be borne in mind that students have to be taught in a meaningful way to master the language skills, be
able to communicate fluently and use English in real world situations. Knowles (1998) believes that adult
learners are motivated by acquiring knowledge that solves real world problems in their lives or gives them
internal satisfaction.
In regard to the future research, many methodological and pedagogical questions with regard to different issues in
foreign language education in Faulty of Arts University of Sebha emerged while investigating the research questions
addressed in this way. First, this study adopted qualitative and quantitative instruments to investigate the students’
motivation toward learning English. It is recommended that such an approach can be used to study the context in
which English instruction takes place including teachers, faculties, and syllabus. Second, it is recommended to conduct
a study about teachers’ demotivation to find out its effect on students’ motivation, finally, this study could be replicated
with a larger number of participants (teachers and students) in other faculties in Libya to give a clearer and a more
generalizable picture about the investigated phenomena.

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