Motivation and Transfer in Language Learning

     Research suggests that transfer and motivation are mutually supportive in creating an optimal learning environment.  If the learner perceives what he is learning to be relevant and transferable to other situations, he will find learning meaningful, and his motivation to acquire the skill or knowledge will increase. Similarly, for transfer to take place, the learner must be motivated to do two things. First, he must be able to recognize opportunities for transfer (Prawat, 1989); second, he needs to possess the motivation to take advantage of these opportunities (Pea, 1988).
     The challenge of teaching is thus to simultaneously enhance transfer and motivation so that they both support learning. To do this, teachers need to first understand the nature of transfer and the nature of motivation.

     Teachers often ask themselves ãWhat is in the learning situation that needs to be transferred?ä The answer may be one or more of the following: content or conceptual knowledge, strategic or procedural knowledge, and appropriate dispositions for learning (Thorndike, 1932; Perkins et al., 1993).

     Proponents for the teaching of content knowledge over strategic knowledge argue that learners who have mastered the content knowledge of a particular domain are fully capable of displaying sophisticated use of effective strategies in new situations, including those strategies never explicitly taught (Chi, 1988). They claim that without requisite domain-specific knowledge, general strategies have a weak effect on enhancing performance in most tasks. At the same time, a common argument for emphasizing the teaching of strategic knowledge is that if one can identify and teach the general skills (e.g., metacognitive and problem-solving skills) that are applicable to a broad range of tasks, it is easier then to facilitate transfer of learning (Pressley et al., 1987). Although proponents from the two camps disagree on the question of what exactly is transferred, they concur that positive dispositions toward learning are vital to learner success. These dispositions include traits like high motivation, risk-taking attitudes, mindfulness or attentiveness, and a sense of responsibility for learning (Salomon & Perkins, 1988; Pea, 1988).

     Gardner and Lambert (1972) introduced the notions of instrumental and integrative motivation. In the context of language learning, instrumental motivation refers to the learnerâs desire to learn a language for utilitarian purposes (such as employment or travel), whereas integrative motivation refers to the desire to learn a language to integrate successfully into the target language community. In later research studies, Crookes and Schmidt (1991), and Gardner and Tremblay (1994) explored four other motivational orientations: (a) reason for learning, (b) desire to attain the learning goal, (c) positive attitude toward the learning situation, and (d) effortful behavior.
     Many theorists and researchers have found that it is important to recognize the construct of motivation not as a single entity but as a multi-factorial one. Oxford and Shearin (1994) analyzed a total of 12 motivational theories or models, including those from socio-psychology, cognitive development, and socio-cultural psychology, and identified six factors that impact motivation in language learning:
 

• attitudes (i.e., sentiments toward the learning community and the target language)
• beliefs about self  (i.e., expectancies about oneâs attitudes to succeed, self-efficacy, and anxiety)
• goals (perceived clarity and relevance of learning goals as reasons for learning)
• involvement (i.e., extent to which the learner actively and consciously participates in the language learning process)
• environmental support  (i.e., extent of teacher and peer support, and the integration of cultural and outside-of-class support into learning experience)
• personal attributes (i.e., aptitude, age, sex, and previous language learning experience).

     Research studies have shown that language acquisition is the result of an interplay between cognitive mechanism and environmental conditions (Spolsky, 1985; Sivert & Egbert, 1995). Understanding and creating optimal language learning environments thus becomes a primary concern of the language teacher. Teachers can observe circumstances under which learners acquire language and can make adjustments toward creating optimal learning conditions.  In designing learning activities, the language teacher should remember that because language learning focuses on both the accuracy and appropriateness of application in various contexts of use, learners must be given opportunities to participate as language users in multiple contexts. These opportunities will result in learnersâ heightened motivation and awareness of the intricacies of language use.
     Some teaching strategies that can be used to foster motivation and provide better transfer opportunities of language skills include the following:

• Encourage learners to take ownership in learning

Have learners take ownership of the learning assignment by letting them identify and decide for themselves relevant learning goals.  This will motivate them to apply what they have learned to attain these learning goals.
• Promote intentional cognition or mindfulness to learning in various contexts

Learners must be able to practice language in multiple contexts in order to bridge domains and foster active abstraction of concepts learned (Bransford, et al. 1990). This will help learners recognize the relevance and transferability of different learning skills or knowledge.
• Increase authenticity of learning tasks and goals

Learners should recognize a real need to accomplish learning goals that are relevant and holistic (rather than task-specific). This prepares them for the complexities of real-world tasks that require them to use language skills and knowledge that have to be continually transferred.

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Digest #138 is EDO-CS-98-11 and was published in November 1998 by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication, 2805 E 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47408-2698, Telephone (812) 855-5847 or (800) 759-4723. ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced. Additional copies may be ordered by contacting the ERIC Document Reproduction Service at (800) 443-3742.

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