Ways to increase students' motivation to learn foreign language

One of the most difficult aspects of a teacher's work is to motivate students. It is also one of the most important. Students who are not motivated will not learn effectively. They will not remember the information, they will not participate and some of them may even become disorganizers. The best lessons, books and materials in the world will not make students want to learn and be ready to work hard if they are not motivated.

Motivation -a common name for the processes, methods, means of encouraging students to cognitive activity, active development of the content of education. Motivation is based on motives, by which there are specific motives, incentives, forcing the person to act and do things. Emotions and aspirations, interests and needs, ideals and attitudes can act as motives. Therefore, motives are complex dynamic systems in which choice and decision-making, analysis and evaluation of choice are carried out. Motivation for students is the most effective way to improve the learning process. Motives are the driving forces of learning and learning. Motivation for learning is quite a difficult and ambiguous process of changing the attitude of the individual, as a separate subject of study, and to the entire educational process. Motives or, in other words, the reasons that stimulate a person and encourage him to be active, in this case -to learn -can be very different.

Motivation, both internal and external, is a key factor in students' success at all stages of learning, and teachers can play a key role in providing and encouraging motivation to their students. Of course, this is easier said than done, as all students are motivated in different ways, and it takes a lot of time and effort to get a full class of students passionate about learning, working and striving for excellence. Even experienced teachers with the best intentions sometimes lack the skills to lead students in the right direction. Students may be unmotivated for a number of reasons:

• -    they may feel that they have no interest in the subject;

• -    find the teacher's methods unattractive;

• -    be distracted by external factors. It may even turn out that a student who seemed unmotivated actually has learning difficulties and needs special attention. While motivating students is a difficult task, the reward is worth it. A motivated student is obsessed with learning, and strives to be a participant in the process.

There are the following classification of educational motivation of students:

• -    cognitive motives (acquisition of new knowledge and become more erudite);

• -    broad social motives (implies duty, responsibility, understanding of the social significance of the doctrine, benefit society);

• -    expressed in the desire of the individual to assert themselves in society, to assert their social status through the doctrine;

• -    pragmatic motives (to have a higher income, to receive a decent reward for their work);

• -    professional-value motives (expanding opportunities to get a promising and interesting work);

• -    aesthetic motives (getting pleasure from learning, revealing their hidden abilities and talents);

• -    status-positional motives (the desire to establish themselves in society through teaching or social activities, to gain recognition of others, to take a certain position);

• -    communicative motives; (expanding the circle of communication by increasing their intellectual level and new acquaintances);

• -    traditionally-historical reasons (the stereotypes that have arisen in society and strengthened over time);

• -    the utilitarian and practical reasons (materialistic, to learn self-education, desire to learn individual interested in the subject);

• -    the educational-cognitive motives (focus on ways of obtaining knowledge, mastering specific academic subjects)

• -    the motives of social and personal prestige (to assert itself and to take in the future a certain position in society and, in a close social environment);

• -    unconscious motives (education is not on their own, and the influence of someone based on a complete lack of understanding of the meaning of the information and a complete lack of interest in the cognitive process). These motives can merge to form a common motivation for learning. Dale Carnegie says, "... there is only one way in the world to get people to do something -to make people want to do it." In order for a student to really get involved in the work, it is necessary that the tasks that are set before him in the course of educational activities are not only understandable, but also internally accepted by him, i.e. that they become important for the student. Since the true source of a person's motivation is in himself, it is necessary that he wants to do something and do it. Therefore, the main motive of the teaching is the internal motive force.

Simply put: teaching a class full of motivated students is enjoyable for both the teacher and the student. Sure, some students are self-motivated and have a natural love of learning, but even with students who don't have this natural aspiration, a good educator can make learning fun and inspire them to reach their full potential.

However, we are not surprised by the fact that students prefer to abandon the subject, which is mistakenly perceived as difficult and useless. And foreign languages are often perceived as such. Languages are not the main subject. We often hear from teachers that the government should do this or that, but we think teachers should debunk some of the myths surrounding learning foreign languages.

We are convinced that teachers have the opportunity to influence what is happening in this area. Experience shows that teenagers, in most cases, look at languages as a difficult and boring subject. It seems to us that these two points are something that teachers can influence. Languages don't have to be difficult or boring.

We just want to give them a good Foundation and interest them to study the subject further if they wish, and do it in a way that is fun and effective. So what can we do to get students interested in languages? Just the story that learning languages is a good help for their future, does not work, as an ordinary teenager does not see the future beyond the weekend. In our view, there is one thing we can use if the attendance of our foreign language classes is declining, and we are concerned about it -using technology to help make language learning more accessible, relevant and more appropriate to the needs and expectations of teenagers in the 21st century.

If you're reading this, then you're probably familiar with the concept of blogs or podcasts and may already be using some technology in your lessons. If, however, you have doubts or are unsure about how to do this or what you can do, we have prepared several suggestions for using technology in the classroom to engage students and improve the quality of teaching and learning:

• -    Never use technology for the sake of using technology. Make sure that the use of technology is justified in your work and that it will help to achieve the goals of the lesson.

• -    Use video streaming. The emergence of broadband has contributed to the emergence of the ability to include video directly from the Internet into the classroom. Authentic videos from YouTube sites, as well as from national television broadcasters ' websites such as the BBC or Canal +, are a fantastic way to get unapproved students to experience the culture of other countries.

• -    Use more music. Teenagers fanatically love music. They probably use ITunes and you need to do that too. Find out what type of music they like and try

to find similar music in the target language which you will then be able to use in the lessons.

• -    Use the tools of teleconferences and social networks, such as Skype, Facebook or Vkontakte, to stay in touch with students, as well as to establish their contact with peers in other countries. They will realize that there are other people in the same situation in other countries and may eventually establish relationships that they will maintain already outside the class using MSM chat, Hotmail, etc.

• -    Create your own interactive exercises. You know your students ' strengths and weaknesses better than anyone. So why use exercises done by other people for other people? Create your own using tools like Hot Potatoes or various game generators and handouts that are found in large numbers on the web.

• -    Use the interactive whiteboard more efficiently. Little knowledge goes a long way in helping you create more effective interactive activities for you and your students.

• -    Create your own podcasts. It's technically easy to do and done alone, they can be downloaded over and over again, year after year. Think of them as homework. Or ask your students to make them. You can get started using the Audacity service.

• -    Start a subject blog, class blog, or wiki to showcase your students ' work and achievements while focusing on their efforts.

• -    Use online tools more often to prepare for classes or help your students with homework. Using tools like Voki, Wordle or Animoto, you can motivate your students.

• -    Make your students ' gadgets work. Most of them have players, mobile phones with camera and tablets, so why not put them a video task using their mobile create or find resources they can install on their devices?

• -    Give students a sense of control. While teacher leadership is important to keep students focused on tasks and motivation, giving students the right to choose and control what happens in the classroom is actually one of the best ways to keep

them interested. For example, allowing students to choose the type of assignment they will perform can give them a sense of control that motivates them to do more. - Use positive competition. Competition in the classroom is not always bad, and in some cases can motivate students to try and work to succeed. Work to evoke a friendly spirit of competition in the classroom, perhaps through group games related to material or other opportunities for students to show their knowledge.

• -    Get to know your students. Getting to know students is more than just remembering their names. Students should know that their teacher is interested in them and cares about them and their success. When students feel valued, it creates a safe learning environment and motivates them to work as they want to receive praise and support from someone who they believe knows them and respects them as individuals. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, and we do not pretend that we will solve problems with motivation to learn a language in Russia or elsewhere, but it is something that teachers can do, each in their place, to attract students to the classroom and stimulate love for foreign languages.