Motivational Strategies Bread and Butter for Language Teachers

This book presents the findings of a research study carried out for a masters thesis on teaching English as a foreign language. The objective was to investigate teachers' and students' perceptions of the motivational behaviors that English teachers perform in the classroom. The study attempted to explore the relation between students' and teachers'perceptions, as well as their relations to what has been pointed out in the literature. The findings suggest that teachers' and students' perceptions of motivational behaviors are similar, although there are some mismatches. Both teachers and students think that a good teacher-student relationship and teachers' being friendly and supportive are the most motivating behaviors. On the other hand, although the teachers find encouraging students to try harder and asking them to work toward a pre-determined goal motivating, the students do not find these behaviors as motivating as the teachers do. The findings of the study might be beneficial for teachers as they will gain an insight into their students' beliefs about the motivational behavior of teachers.