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ERIC Number: EJ1240405
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1345-8353
EISSN: N/A
Seeking to Relieve Demotivation for Korean College Students Learning English
Kang, Sang-Gu
Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, v23 n2 p21-36 2019
Demotivation is a relatively new and trending topic in the field of L2 learning. Previous studies have attempted to classify several factors related to demotivation and identify how those factors affect teachers and L2 learners. In the current study, a short questionnaire with items that can be classified into five demotivation factors based on findings from previous research ((a) Learning Contents & Materials, (b) Teachers' Competence & Teaching Styles, (c) Lack of Intrinsic Motivation, (d) Test Score, and (e) Peer Environment) was completed by 40 students at the end of a college English reading class. One of the goals is to probe how these demotivation factors affect students with different achievement levels. The results demonstrated that three of the factors (Teachers' Competence & Teaching Styles, Lack of Intrinsic Motivation, and Peer Environment) did not function as high demotivation factors, while the other two (Learning Contents & Materials and Test Score) were demotivating for low achievement level students. These results suggest that factors related to teachers, students, and fellow students were not demotivating while the textbook and scoring system were discouraging students in this course. Another important goal of this study is to propose how demotivation might be relieved in the classroom, especially related to test scores. After all, the ultimate goal of studying demotivation would be to eliminate it in order to maximize learning. With that in mind, it may be time to consider an alternative method of evaluating students in the classroom. Instead of maintaining the current practice of setting a fixed proportion of students who are allowed to receive good grades, an alternative could be introduced. For example, a credential-type acknowledgement based on the competency that the students achieve should be considered.
Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics. Cheongji National University of Education. Main Bldg #506, 2065 Cheongnam-ro, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do 28690, Korea. e-mail: paaljournal@gmail.com; Web site: http://paal.kr/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Korea
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A