Running head: LEARNING LEVEL MOTIVATION

Learning Level Motivation: Implications for ASL Instructors

Linda Bond
University of Northern Colorado

TASL 502: ASL Teaching Methods

Dr. Greta Knigga-Daugherty
August 7, 2015

LEARNING LEVEL MOTIVATION

Learning Level Motivation: Implications for ASL Instructors

In a now classic article reporting exploratory research with high school students studying
French as a second language, Gardner and Lambert (1959) found evidence that both language
learning aptitude and motivation are associated with achievement in learning French. Their
introduction of a motivational factor as important to language learning allowed the following
logic to emerge: aptitude indicates whether a person can learn a language, but motivation
indicates whether the individual will put forth a significant effort to do so. To that point, Drnyei
(1998) states that without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable
abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals (p. 117).
Many elements of motivation can be influenced by instructors. Thus, the purpose of this
paper is to review relevant literature on motivation in second language acquisition and to draw
recommendations from that review that will help teachers enhance the motivation and
performance of students who are learning American Sign Language (ASL) as a second language.
The thesis of this paper is that careful consideration of student motivation (specifically, learning
situation level motivation) yields implications for course design, teacher behaviors, and group
dynamics that will allow ASL instructors to deliver transformative classroom experiences by
maximizing student motivation.
Motivation
The first thirty years of research in motivation for second language learning was centered
on two domains of motivation: integrative and instrumental (Drnyei & Csizr, 1998).
Motivation, from this perspective, is a set of reasons for learning the language and those reasons
are conceptualized as residing in the learner and being relatively stable over time (Vandergrift,
2005).

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Integrative Motivation
Gardner and Lambert (1959) introduced motivation to foreign language research by
identifying an influential motivational factor that aligned specifically with a willingness to be
like valued members of the language community (p. 271). This form of motivation was later
called integrative motivation because it aligned integrative reasons [for learning the
language] . . . which indicate an interest in learning the language in order to meet and
communicate with members of the second language community (Gardner, Smythe, & Brunet,
1977, p. 244).
Research on integrative motivation sought to probe the learners desires to integrate
themselves into the target-language community and to identify with the culture of the speakers of
the target language (Daskalovska, Gudeva, & Ivanovska, 2012, p. 1188). Drnyei (1990) found
evidence of four sub-components of integrative motivation: (1) general interest in foreign
languages, cultures and people, (2) a desire to be cosmopolitan and avoid provincialism, (3)
a desire for new stimuli and challenges, and (4) the more traditional notion of a desire to get
actually integrated (at least temporarily) into another community (p. 65-66).
When Al Rifai (2010) studied Kuwaiti students learning English as a second language,
she found that those with higher integrative motivation reported more benefit from the courses
they took and a belief that they gained more from their teachers. Her subjects also found their
use of learning strategies to be more effective. Thus, students with integrative reasons for
learning a second language seemed willing to put forth the effort necessary to make their
learning yield results. Researchers present few insights into what teachers could do to enhance
integrative motivation, but generally researchers found integrative motivation to be associated
with long-term success in foreign language learning (Oroujlou & Vehedi, 2011).

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Instrumental Motivation
Instrumental motivation is drawn from practical advantages of learning a new language,
such as job advancement (Vandergrift 2005, p. 71) or the desire to achieve other personal goals
(Daskalovska et al., 2012). Al Rifai (2010) found Kuwaiti students learning English who had
higher instrumental motivation gained the same benefits as those who had higher integrative
motivation. A key difference between integrative and instrumental motivation is that the goals
associated with instrumental motivation may be short-term. Students may simply wish to satisfy
a college or university foreign language requirement and have little or no interest in the language
or the community members who use it. After they have successfully achieved an instrumental
goal such as receiving academic credit, students may not continue to study the language or the
communitys culture. This phenomenon is a reasonable explanation for why researchers have
generally found integrative motivation to be more closely associated with long-term success in
studying foreign languages than is the case for instrumental motivation (Oroujlou & Vehedi,
2011).
Evolution of Motivation Study in Foreign Language Acquisition
Oxford and Shearin (1994) note the importance of a broader perspective on student
motivation and provide an excellent overview of need-based theories, expectancy-value theories,
equity theories, and reinforcement theories that can be, and to a degree have been, used to
understand motivation in second language learning. In contrast, Drnyei & Csizr (1998)
identified a philosophical shift that was a key driver in broadening the understanding of
motivation, noting that one of the main drives behind the reform attempts was to adopt a more
pragmatic, education-centered approach . . . which would be consistent with the perceptions of
practicing teachers and, thus, be more directly relevant to classroom application (p. 204). In

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other words, they note a shift away from merely understanding motivation to understanding
motivation with an eye toward giving teachers tools to take actions that can enhance student
motivation and performance.
Drnyei (1994) proposed a three-level model to understand motivation. The first,
Language Level, follows the traditional understanding of integrative and instrumental
motivation. The second, Learner Level, centers attention on fairly stable personality traits that
the learner has developed in the past and includes the notions of the need for achievement and
self-confidence (p. 206). Thus, the learner level represents the student characteristics with which
the teacher must work. The third, Learning Situation Level, includes course-specific, teacherspecific, and group-specific components of motivation. These three elements represent domains
that can be shaped or influenced by the instructor. Thus, I use learning situation level motivation
(Drnyei, 1994) as an organizing framework as I turn to the task of identifying recommendations
to provide guidance for teachers who wish to make the ASL classroom a place in which students
can be motivated to excel.
Conceptual Framework and Recommendations
Note that Table 1 summarizes and adapts Drnyeis (1994) conceptualization of learning
situation level motivation which includes three broad sub-components of course-specific,
teacher-specific, and group-specific motivation. In the next section of this paper, Table 1 serves
as an organizing framework to guide the presentation of specific recommendations for teachers.
Following that framework, I propose practices associated with the learning situation that may
influence student motivation in the ASL classroom.

LEARNING LEVEL MOTIVATION

Table 1
Learning Situation Level Motivation in the ASL Classroom
COURSE-SPECIFIC MOTIVATION (Course Design)
Interest

Inherent curiosity

Relevance

Perception that content and activities relate to mastering ASL

Expectancy

Confidence in success based on task difficulty, effort required,

support, guidance and assistance

Satisfaction

Praise/grades (extrinsic), enjoyment/pride (intrinsic)

TEACHER-SPECIFIC MOTIVATION (Teacher Behaviors)

Affiliative drive

Students seek to please the teacher by doing well

Authority type

Teacher supports student self-direction

Socialization of
student motivation

Teacher actively seeks to motivate students

Modeling

Acts as "group conscience" and role model

Task
presentation

Presents purpose for activity with reasons for

interest or practical value

Feedback

Emphasizes informational feedback vs.

controlling feedback (comparisons)

GROUP-SPECIFIC MOTIVATION (Group Dynamics)

Goal-orientedness

Learning ASL is accepted as the group goal

Norm and reward

system

Establishment of a group value system that supports success

(vs. just grades)

Group cohesion

Sense of relationship links group members (and encourages a

group focus on success)

Classroom goal
structure

Cooperative goal structure encourages performance (vs.

competitive or individualistic)

Note. Adapted from Figure 1 in Drnyei (1994, p. 280) and related text (p. 277-280).

LEARNING LEVEL MOTIVATION

Design for Course-Specific Motivation

Following Crookes and Schmidt (1991), Drnyei suggests that course-specific motivation
encompasses interest, relevance, expectancy, and satisfaction. These elements impact the basic
design and approach to the course. Students come to a classroom experience with various levels
of intrinsic interest or curiosity about the subject. Relevance, in turn, centers on the extent to
which the student feels that the instruction is connected to important personal needs, values, or
goals (Drnyei, 1994, p. 277). At the course-specific level, relevance addresses whether the
student sees the class experiences as aligned with achieving the level of ASL mastery that the
student seeks. Based on perceptions of course difficulty, teacher guidance, and support, students
build a sense of expectancy as to whether they can achieve their goal of learning ASL.
Satisfaction arises from either receiving extrinsic rewards such as praise or good marks or
intrinsic rewards such as enjoyment and pride (p. 278).
In order to motivate students, instructors should take care in the design of the class.
Designing from the perspective of contextualized learning (Shrum & Glisan, 2010), teachers can
build elements into the course that will touch student interests and enhance relevance. The
contextualized learning method encourages teachers to make lessons enjoyable and interesting,
thus securing student attention. Sports, hobbies, weekend activities, seasons, weather, current
events, and holiday celebrations are excellent topics that are common to the experiences of all
people and can serve as touchpoints for relating to the students worlds. Utilizing DVDs, videos,
YouTube clips, and visitors who use ASL to tell jokes and stories can make learning fun and can
pique the curiosity of the students.
Students come to the table with varying purposes for taking ASL. Teachers can enhance
interest by building a survey of student goals into the class structure and using it to obtain

LEARNING LEVEL MOTIVATION

students reasons for taking the course. Helping students identify their goals can encourage them
along their ASL learning journeys. If the survey is integral to the course design, the instructor
can use it to guide choices regarding materials, visitors, examples, and exercises throughout the
semester, thus reinforcing the appeal to students natural interests and curiosity.
In order to manage expectancy, the syllabus should be clear and should accurately
describe the support and guidance the students will receive from the instructor. Before launching
a class, the instructor should evaluate whether there will be enough episodes of feedback to
generate extrinsic motivation and enough opportunities to experience successful task completion
to generate satisfaction. Teachers can enhance expectancy by helping students see that they are
achieving their ASL learning goals.
Setting up parties to which the Deaf community is also invited can enhance the learning
environment and help students form associations with Deaf people. Halloween and Christmas
are splendid fall semester party opportunities, while Easter/Spring and Soon-to-be-Summer
celebrations are perfect party opportunities for the spring semester. By noting the students
progress in communication with Deaf people, the teacher is highlighting success (thus
strengthening expectancy of future success) and encouraging a sense of satisfaction in
achievement.
Behave in a Way That Drives Teacher-Specific Motivation
Whereas course-specific motivation can be influenced by instructional design, teacherspecific motivation is more reliant on the actual behaviors of the instructor the execution of
the course design. Note in Table 1 that teacher-specific elements of motivation include creating
an environment in which students wish to be affiliated with the teacher and to please the

LEARNING LEVEL MOTIVATION

instructor through their successes, exercising authority in a manner that supports student selfdirection, and actively working to motivate students.
One teacher friend frequently quotes an old saying, they dont care how much you know
until they know how much you care. Establishing a rapport by laughing and talking with
students about their lives and their interests, while being friendly, enthusiastic and caring will
strengthen the student/teacher bond and energize their desire to participate in learning activities.
Attending student study groups at least twice a semester also shows genuine interest from the
instructor. Relevant personal stories, positive experiences, humorous memes, and excellent use
of eye-contact are tools that can help put students at ease and connect them to the instructor.
As the group conscience and as a role model, the teacher must create a safe classroom
climate in which learners feel comfortable (Thanasoulas, 2002). Fear of ridicule can prevent
students from trying their hand at producing ASL. In a safe environment, students can learn and
practice in a relaxed surrounding and feel secure in the knowledge that although mistakes will be
made, they will not be mocked. The teacher can enhance a sense of self-direction, by involving
students in the creation of class rules.
Task presentation sets the context for student motivation. Students want to know why
they need to make an effort on a given task (Oroujlou & Vahedi, 2011). By carefully explaining
the rationale behind each activity and providing feedback that is designed to improve
performance, the teacher can help students see how their work moves them toward their goal of
learning ASL. At the end of each class, a muddy points sheet can help identify whether the
instructor is hitting the mark. Muddy points are defined as elements about which students are
unsure at the end of the class period. By collecting muddy points and addressing any issues

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during the next class meeting, instructors provide a high level of service and build a sense of
reciprocity with students.
Drnyei (1990) emphasizes the need for exercising authority that supports student
autonomy (vs. controls student behavior). Providing students with choices on projects and
activities can give them a greater sense of control which may yield the fruit of higher motivation.
Seek to Build a Cohesive, Goal-Directed Class
Table 1 provides four elements of group-specific motivation. Developing a sense of goalorientation can energize the class. Because a group goal is best regarded as a composite of
individual goals (Drnyei, 1990, p. 278), one element of class design can be particularly
helpful. If students have completed questionnaires regarding their own goals, the instructor can
lead a discussion in which elements drawn from those individual aspirations can be crafted into a
few high-level goals for the entire class. Note that the categories suggested in Table 1 are not
mutually-exclusive. A design element (course-specific motivation) helps to establish a group
goal (group-specific motivation) and also is quite supportive of student self-direction (teacherspecific motivation).
Group goal structure differs from having a group goal. Goal structures reveal an
environment in which students act and are rewarded as individuals, are pitted against one another
in competition, or work together in small groups that are collectively rewarded. Drnyei (1994),
argues that performance is higher in classrooms characterized by cooperative goal structures.
Thus, use of teams and groups seems fitting to drive engagement in collaborative learning.
Group cohesion can be driven by discussions of group goals, focusing more on group
performance than individualistic or competitive approaches, and participation in small groups
throughout the course. Giving learners opportunities to work in pairs or groups is especially

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valuable to a sense of cohesion in the classroom. Changing partners and using a variety of group
sizes addresses the needs of each student for varied learning experiences. Reserved students may
find that practicing in a small group is easier than being in front of the whole class (Oroujlou &
Vehedi, 2011). Establishing relationships with a small group of peers may give quiet students the
self-assurance necessary to communicate with the class as a whole. Working in groups gives
students opportunities to collaborate, encourage, and support each other which increases
motivation and fosters bonds among classmates.
Lest instructors think of group assignments as being less rigorous, note in Table 1 that
group-specific motivation involves seeking to ensure that the external goals of the class are
internalized in such a way that they support high performance. Thus, in group assignments, the
instructor should expect the group to enforce quality control and police exertion of effort because
they share the same fate (grade).
Conclusion
The purpose of this paper was to review relevant literature on motivation and provide
recommendations that would be helpful to teachers as they seek to motivate ASL students. I
noted that motivation research in language learning evolved over several decades to become
more useful as a guide for classroom instruction. I drew on Drnyeis (1994) conceptualization
of learning situation level commitment to propose an organizing framework with implications for
course design, teacher behaviors, and group dynamics. Guided by that framework, I presented
suggestions that can be used by ASL instructors to enhance student motivation and thereby
maximize student performance.

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References

Al Rifai, N. (2010). Attitude, motivation, and difficulties involved in learning the English
language and factors that affect motivation in learning it. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 2(2), 5216-5227.
Crookes, G., & Schmidt, R. W. (1991). Motivation: Reopening the research agenda. Language
learning, 41(4), 469-512.
Daskalovska, N., Gudeva, L. K., & Ivanovska, B. (2012). Learner motivation and
interest. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 1187-1191.
Dornyei, Z. (1990). Conceptualizing motivation in foreign-language learning.Language
Learning, 40(1), 45-78.
Drnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom. The modern
language journal, 78(3), 273-284.
Drnyei, Z. (1998). Motivation in second and foreign language learning. Language
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Drnyei, Z., & Csizr, K. (1998). Ten commandments for motivating language learners: Results
of an empirical study. Language teaching research, 2(3), 203-229.
Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1959). Motivational variables in second-language
acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology (Revue Canadienne de Psychologie), 13(4),
266.
Gardner, R. C., Smythe, P. C., & Brunet, G. R. (1977). Intensive second language study: effects
on attitudes, motivation and French achievement. Language Learning, 27(2), 243-261.
Oroujlou, N., & Vahedi, M. (2011). Motivation, attitude, and language learning. Procedia-Social
and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 994-1000.

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Oxford, R., & Shearin, J. (1994). Language learning motivation: Expanding the theoretical
framework. The Modern Language Journal, 78(1), 12-28.
Shrum, J., & Glisan, E. (2010). Teachers handbook: Contextualized language instruction (4th
ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Thanasoulas, D. (2002). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom. TESL
Journal, 8(11), http://iteslj,org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Motivation.html.
Vandergrift, L. (2005). Relationships among motivation orientations, metacognitive awareness
and proficiency in L2 listening. Applied Linguistics, 26(1), 70-89.

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