Topic 25.

The process of foreign language teaching and learning focused on the pupil: basis
and applications. Identification of motivation and attitudes towards the English
language. Practical applications.

Introduction
1. The process of foreign language teaching and learning focused on the pupil:
basis and applications.
1.1. The importance of the elements of the curriculum in a learner-centred
approach.
1.2. Basis and applications in foreign language teaching.
2. Identification of motivations and attitudes towards the English Language.
2.1. Factors that influence students’ motivation and attitudes in education.
2.2. Types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation theory.
2.2.1. Intrinsic motivation.
2.2.2. Extrinsic motivation.
3. Practical application. How can teachers promote motivation in the ESL/EFL
classroom?
4. Conclusion.
5. Bibliography.

Introduction
Teachers’ and students’ roles have been changing with the different foreign
language learning methods throughout the years. Depending on the method or
approach that we deliver in class, the teacher will be the centre of the learning
process (teacher-centred), or the learning would be focused on the student
(learner-centred).
Currently, different communicative approaches seem to be the most widely
used. These approaches emphasise the importance of students participating actively
in class and view teachers as resources, assessors or mediators. This is called
"learner-centred teaching", where students are at the centre of the learning process,
and teachers are responsible for creating learning opportunities for them to develop
their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills holistically.
The contents introduced in a learner-centred curriculum must have two
characteristics: they must be relevant and motivating for the students. This will lead
children to achieve the main aim of our subject, established in the Royal Degree
126/2014, article 7, letter f: “To acquire basic communicative competence in at least
one foreign language, in order to enable students to express and understand simple
messages and get by in everyday situations”.
As part of this topic, we will examine how to create curriculum and lessons
that are centred on the learner rather than the teacher; we will also identify the
motivations and attitudes needed to learn English.

1. The process of foreign language teaching and learning focused on the pupil:
basis and applications.
Students must always be involved in the teaching-learning process, right from
the moment the teacher plans the lesson to the moment they are assessed by the
teacher. This is the principle behind all modern teaching and learning methods.
Students who are involved in their learning are more motivated and take ownership
of their learning. In this way, we will always achieve the main objective:
Communicative Competence.
A student-centred approach does not allow students to take charge of their
learning; it does not allow students to judge their teachers nor does it give students a
free hand. Instead, student-centred learning aims to help students discover their own
learning styles, to understand their motivation, and to acquire study skills that will be
useful throughout their lives. Putting this approach into practice requires teachers to
assist students in setting realistic goals, assisting them in assessing themselves,

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encouraging them to work cooperatively as a group, and ensuring they are aware of
the various learning resources that are available to them.
Student-centred teaching methods include active learning (students solve
problems, answer questions, formulate their own questions, discuss, explain, debate,
or brainstorm in class); cooperative learning (students work together to complete
projects and solve problems); or inductive learning (inquiry-based learning,
problem-based learning, project-based learning, and discovery-based learning).

The main characteristics of a learner-centred approach are the following:

1. It is a method of teaching that highlights the instruction from the teacher
to the student. The role of the teacher changes towards a facilitator or
mediator in the learning process, being more focused on individualised
learning rather than for the whole group.
2. The aim is to develop the autonomy of the learner in their daily work by
making learners active in their learning path. Consequently, students have
the opportunity to implement a real task and acquire 21st century skills
and key competences through the process.
3. It is based on the constructivist learning theories that stress the
importance of the learner’s role in constructing meaning from connecting
new information and previous knowledge.
4. It focuses on the integration of the four skills (listening, speaking, reading
and writing to promote lifelong learning and independent
problem-solving.
5. Learner-centred teaching includes explicit skill instruction, students learn
how to think, solve problems, decision making, teamwork, evaluate
evidence, analyse arguments, generate hypotheses—all those learning
skills essential to mastering material in the discipline.
6. Learner-centred teaching encourages students to reflect on what they are
learning and how they are doing it. The goal is to make students aware of

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 their progress and to make learning skills something that students want to
improve.
7. Learner-centred teaching motivates students by giving them some control
over learning processes.
In summary, learner-centred education helps the students develop skills that
will better equip them for their professional careers. Teachers can be trained in this
approach, so they can apply the principles and provide their students with a better
learning experience. This method does not require technology or special resources
that schools from communities in need may not have; in fact, it relies on the most
valuable asset in the classroom: the students.

1.1. The importance of the elements of the curriculum in a learner-centred

approach.
School curriculum plays a central role in student-centred approach. But
instead of the traditional model, where students and teachers follow the same script,
learner-centred schools use their curriculum as a resource to spark student interest
and guide rigorous inquiry.
The supporters of learner-centred Curriculum give importance to individual
development and they want to organise the curriculum according to the needs and
interest of learners; there are fundamental differences in this approach and the
subject-centred design.
This movement from the traditional curriculum towards a programme that
stresses the interests and needs of students, this approach was used by Rousseau in
the education of Emile, then Dewy in his Laboratory School in 1896-1904.
The elements in a learner-centred curriculum are, among others, initial
planning, procedures, content selection and gradation and assessment:
- Initial planning is the first step in the curriculum process. Here the teacher
collects information about the learners in order to diagnose their needs. The

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 communicative competence of each group, or even each student, will be
different, so cultural and personal factors need to be considered.
- Content selection and gradation is an important component of a
learner-centred curriculum. The contents chosen at the beginning of the year
have to be flexible and open to modifications for a better adaptation of
student’s needs and interests.
- Evaluation is carried out with other curriculum activities and with several
assessment tools and may occur at different times during the planning stage.

In traditional curriculum models, evaluation was identified with resting and

seen as an activity which is carried out at the end of the learning process. Instead, in
a learning-centred system, evaluation generally takes the form of informal monitoring
which is carried out throughout the teaching and the learning process, principally by
the teacher and the students.

1.2. Basis and applications in foreign language teaching.

In a teaching method we have to consider not only the roles of the teacher
and pupils but the curriculum and the syllabus plan. As follows, we learn how these
documents have become an essential part of this process:
- The units designed for the children provide help and assistance to the learners
as they know exactly what they are going to learn in every lesson.
- The description of the units gives students a written detail about the types of
learning experiences that they need to develop linguistic communication
competence.
- The curriculum makes children familiar with the learning standards. This way it
makes the tasks of learning purposeful and goal oriented. We want our
students to take ownership of their learning, so they need to perceive the
curriculum as an open and flexible document whose activities and goals may
change in order to support them in their learning.

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 - A proficient syllabus includes resources related to students’ interests and
differentiated to their learning levels.
- Children should be aware of what is expected from them. They need to know
what are the learning targets of the lessons as well as the success criterias or
the rubrics used for assessments. Obviously, this will need to be adapted to
the grades and ages, making it accessible for our younger students by using
pictures or signs.
2. Identification of motivations and attitudes towards the English language.
Motivation helps maintain students’ attention and control their behaviour. It
also provides them with the energy needed to lead tasks to completion. In education,
motivation can have a variety of effects on students’ behaviour, preferences, and
results. For instance, motivation can:
- Help the teacher keep the attention towards the tasks proposed.
- Allow children to do those tasks in shorter periods of time as well as maintain
attention during a longer time.
- Reduce distractions in class.
- Affect how much information we retain and store.
- Change the perception of how easy or difficult tasks can appear to the pupils.

Most importantly, motivation urges us to perform an action. Without it,

completing the action can be hard or even impossible.

2.1. Factors that influence students’ motivation and attitudes in education.

1. Good syllabus planning: Children thrive when there is structure and struggle
when there is chaos. When students sense or see that classes follow a
structure, and the curriculum and class materials have been prepared
beforehand, it provides them with a greater sense of security.
2. Teachers’ behaviour and personality: If a student has a negative emotion such
as fear or disliking towards their teacher, that can negatively affect their

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 attitude toward the subject as a whole. On the other hand, kindness,
optimism, positive feedback, and encouragement can positively affect
students’ motivation to learn.
3. Teaching methods and organisation: The use of a variety of teaching methods
and classroom organisation prevents students from getting bored. For
example, recent methods based on new technologies or student-centre
methodologies will increase motivation and children will learn more
effectively.
4. Parents’ involvement: Parents have a strong influence on their child. They have
a direct influence that is stronger than teachers, friends, and media. For this
reason, a parent’s positive attitude and support towards their children’s
education is considerable. It can inspire and empower the child to develop
good learning habits.
5. Peer relationships. Problems and conflicts among children can affect learning
and motivation towards the school. Teachers must be alert and report about
any conflict, bullying or other negative situations in the classroom.
6. Assessment and feedback. Evaluation is carried out at different stages of the
unit. The results of the evaluation must be useful to check specific problems in
the learning process. Feedback has been recognized among researchers to be
a potential powerful tool for improving students’ learning and reducing the
gap between where students are and where they need to be as feedback
enables students to evaluate their own work and thereby enhancing their
self-regulation (Leung, 2018).

Highly motivated students are usually actively and spontaneously involved in

activities and find the process of learning enjoyable, without expecting any external
rewards (Skinner and Belmont, 1993).

2.2. Types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation theory.

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 Motivation has been widely accepted as one of the key factors that influence
success in second/foreign language (L2) learning. Motivation is known as a stimulant
for achieving a specific target. According to Gardner’s theory (Gardner, 2010),
motivation can be referred to a kind of central mental engine or energy-centre that
includes effort, want or will (cognition) and task-enjoyment (affect). Motivation
provides the primary momentum to initiate L2 learning and all the other factors
involved in L2 acquisition presuppose motivation to some extent. Without sufficient
motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish
long-term goals, and neither are appropriate curricula and good teaching enough on
their own to ensure learner achievement.

2.2.1 Intrinsic motivation:

Intrinsic motivation can be found within the individual and is related to the
individual's identity and sense of well-being. Learners are intrinsically motivated
when learning is a goal in itself. Intrinsic motivation was strongly reflected in early
definitions of L2 motivation. It is defined as “the extent to which the individual works
or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction
experienced in this activity” (Gardner, 1985). They find intrinsically motivating tasks
interesting and challenging; the reward is the enjoyment of the activity itself or a
feeling of competence (self-efficacy) in doing the task. In such tasks, learners may
experience flow, and in the moment, an optimal sensation of enjoyment and
competence that has yet to be sufficiently explored in the L2 field (Ng, C. F. and Ng, P.
K., 2015).

2.2.2. Extrinsic motivation:

Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the individual. Learners are

extrinsically motivated when learning is done for the sake of rewards such as grades
or praise that are not inherently associated with the learning itself, that is, when

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learning or performing well becomes necessary to earning those rewards. A number
of researchers and theorists (Ng, C. F. and Ng, P. K., 2015) have contended that
intrinsic motivation correlates more closely with language learning success than
extrinsic motivation, but a learner's total motivation is most frequently a combination
of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. External rewards can either increase or decrease
intrinsic motivation, depending on how they affect self-efficacy.

3. Practical application. How can teachers promote motivation in the ESL/EFL

classroom?

The teacher is a complex and key figure who influences the motivational
quality of learning (Dornyei, 2001), and plays a pivotal role in mediating the growth of
motivation. The English language is taught in school just for a few hours a week in
schools but it has a big role as a medium of communication. Therefore, classroom
experience will be one of the influential determinants for the quality of learners’
learning experience, which in turn will affect their motivation.
Throughout this topic, we have discussed the benefits of "learner-centred
teaching", which provides students with meaningful learning opportunities. The use
of active methodologies will therefore affect their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations
to learn a new language. Here are some of the active methodologies found under the
learner-centred umbrella:

a. Task-Based learning: A lesson or unit is designed to help learners to complete

a task: for example; write a letter, make a reservation, plan a trip, collaborate
to design something, or hold a meeting.
The language content is defined, not by a grammar syllabus, but by what
learners need to complete the task. The tasks themselves can reflect real-life
situations, for example in educational or work contexts; giving an academic
presentation, attending an interview or meeting, applying for a job, or dealing

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 with the public – things that people need to do every day in different fields
like tourism, health services, business and education.

b. Cooperative Learning tasks: Students work together in small groups to

maximise their own and each other’s learning. Cooperative language learning
responds to the trend in foreign language teaching methods by focusing on
the communicative and effective factors in language learning. It is not
surprising that cooperative language learning is beneficial in foreign language
learning and teaching. It is worthwhile for teachers and scholars to introduce
this method to language learning classrooms.
Some examples of activities about Cooperative Learning are Think-Pair-Share,
Jigsaw or Round Robin:
- “Think-Pair-Share”: Also called turn & talk. Teacher poses a question to
the group, and each student has a minute or two to think about the
question. Then, they turn and discuss with someone sitting next to them,
and then share with the whole class.
- “Jigsaw”: Students are placed into "home groups" and "expert groups"
and are each assigned a different topic within the same general topic.
Students work on researching their topics with others who have the
same topic (their expert group) and then return back to their home
group to teach them about their topic. Together, all the pieces come
together to form a complete product.
- “Round Robin”: Students are sitting with groups (3-4 students), and their
teacher asks them a question or gives them a problem to solve. The
questions or problems are deliberating chosen, in that there are multiple
ways to solve the problem and multiple points for discussion. Students in
their groups take turns answering and sharing their ideas with each
other, working together to come up with an answer that they all agree
on.

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 c. Problem-Based learning (PBL): The main idea of PBL is that learners acquire
knowledge by devising a solution to a problem. As the group works through
the challenging real-world problem, learners acquire communication and
collaboration skills in addition to knowledge.
Here there are some examples of PBL in the English Learning classroom,
where students can put in practise many skills to solve real-world problem:
- Students can design and manage a garden at the school or in the
community.
- Students can be asked to redesign a school facility for a new use. For
instance, a library during recess, a high-thinking place in the
playground, a stress free space for children, etc.
- Help local authorities to increase environmental sustainability in the
neighbourhood.
- Design, organise and manage school celebrations.
d. ICT: Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools contribute to high
quality lessons since they have potential to increase students' motivation,
connect students to many information sources, support active in-class and
out-class learning environments, and let instructors to allocate more time for
facilitation. Additionally, new technologies usually encourage independent
and active learning, as a result, the students feel more responsible for their
own learning.

Gamification is a common motivation tool in digital learning and includes

some of the most common extrinsic motivators, such as the use of competition,
badges management, and reward systems. One of the most used applications is
ClassDojo where teachers can set up a point system, create avatars for the students
or teachers, and to encourage teamwork. It is also a great tool to communicate with
the family and share with them the learning achievements of their kids.

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 Especially during COVID-19 times, Flipgrid became a successful digital learning
platform where children could improve their communication skills. It is a video
discussion platform where teachers post questions and students answer in video
format. Classmates can view and reply to each other’s videos, and the teacher can
reply publicly or privately to an individual student. Flipgrid can be integrated into any
content area as a way for students to process their learning and communicate about
content.
One of the well-known techniques we can use in the classroom using
technology is the flipped classroom. It is a blended learning-teaching model based on
the principle that the classroom is where the active part of learning should take
place. It’s ‘flipped’ (or ‘inverted’) because it requires students to do some preparation
before the lesson so that the time spent with the teacher is used more effectively.
Before the lesson, students have their first look at a new language or a video, and get
ready for what is going to happen in the lesson. During the class, the focus is on
getting semi-controlled and free practice, using the new language structures, and
discussing the topic of the video. In other words, the lesson is about production
rather than passive learning this way, the precious classroom time is used more
actively.
Problem-solving tasks, debates, role-plays, discussions and brainstorming are
often skipped by ESL teachers due to lack of time. The flipped classroom approach
allows for these interactive activities to take place. The pre-class part of a flipped
lesson might also focus on establishing the lesson context to make students prepared
for what they will study in the classroom.

4. Conclusion.
In this topic we have pointed out how a communicative approach is one of
those methods which can help students to overcome boredom and lack of attention
at school. Encouraging children to use the language effectively will enable them to
become competent in language communication.

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 Motivations, both intrinsic and extrinsic, are key factors in the success of
learners at all stages of their education. The learners themselves and teachers or
parents play a pivotal role in providing and encouraging that motivation in the
learning and teaching environment. All learners are motivated differently and it takes
time and a lot of effort to get learners to build their enthusiasm for learning, working
hard and pushing themselves to excel.

5. Bibliografía
Dornyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation, 1st ed. Harlow: Longman.

Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and language learning: The role of attitudes
and motivation, 1st ed. London: Edward Arnold.

Gardner, R. C. (2010). Motivation and Second Language Acquisition: The

Socio-Educational Model, 1st ed. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Leung, C. (2018). Using assessment to promote learning: clarifying constructs,

theories, and practices. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Ng, C. F. and Ng, P. K. (2015). A Review of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations of ESL
Learners. Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Languages and
Literature, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 9-10 June 2015.

Skinner, E. and Belmont, M. (1993). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effect of

teacher behaviour and student engagement across the school year. Journal of
Educational Psychology.

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