Creating positive attitudes towards English as a foreign language

Selma Elyıldırım · Sally Ann Ashton-Hay

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EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning Second Language Acquisition and Learning Second Language Learning and Teaching

Abstract

Most members of the language teaching profession realize that their students’ learning potential increases when attitudes are positive and motivation runs high. The research into the connection between positive attitudes and successfully learning a second language supports this simple observation, although it is important to understand that many variables are involved because we are dealing with complex social and psychological aspects of human behavior. For example, students’ ability to learn a second language can be influenced by their attitudes towards the target language, the target language speakers and their culture, the social value of learning the second language, and also the students’ attitudes towards themselves as members of their own culture (Ellis 1994). In addition, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers should recognize that all students possess positive and negative attitudes in varying degrees, and that the negative ones can be changed by thoughtful instructional methods, such as using materials and activities that help students achieve an “understanding and appreciation of the foreign culture” (Brown 2000, 181). This article will describe some of the research about attitudes, motivation, and language learning; it will then discuss a project that examined educational factors that affect motivation and evaluated the effect of introducing special methods, materials, and activities to make attitudes more positive. The project utilized classroom action research, which is a useful method with clearly defined stages to allow teachers to identify, investigate, apply solutions to, and report on results and make recommendations about how to improve teaching strategies and educational policy.

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References

1985Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior 1988Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior 1981Principles of Language Learning and Teaching 1989Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning 1985Social psychology and second language learning : the role of attitudes and motivation 1996The Study of Second Language Acquisition 1972Attitudes and Motivation in Second-Language Learning 1988Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching

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2013Master in Education Student Attitudes towards Research: A Comparison between Two Public Sector Universities in Punjab 2013Motivation Toward English Language Learning of Students in Secondary and High Schools in Education Service Area Office 4, Saraburi Province, Thailand 2014Análisis del Proceso de Enseñanza y Aprendizaje en Educación Bilingüe en Madrid, España: Un Proyecto de Colaboración Fulbright Scholar 2020Sources of variation in attitudes toward minority, majority and foreign language

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