ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 1

Action Research Project

Attitudes and Motivation of ESL Learners Towards Activities Conducted in Class

Alexandra Lemonnier

Sylvie Hamel

Laval University
 ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 2

Table of Content

1. Introduction ................................................................................................... p. 3
2. Literature Review .......................................................................................... p.5
3. Methodology.................................................................................................. p. 7
a. School Context and Participants ............................................................. p. 7
b. Research Instruments.............................................................................. p. 9
i... Teacher questionnaire ................................................................... p. 9
ii... Student questionnaire .................................................................... p. 10
c. Data Gathering........................................................................................ p. 11
d. Data Analysis.......................................................................................... p. 12
4. Results ........................................................................................................... p. 12
a. First Research Question: strategies and activities used
by teachers .............................................................................................. p. 12
i. Questions one to three: strategies.................................................. p. 12
ii. Question four: best strategies to improve student’s motivation .... p. 13
iii. Question five: activities that seem to interest students
the most ......................................................................................... p. 14
iv. Question six: what influences a student’s motivation ................... p. 14
v. Question seven: student choice of activity .................................... p. 14
b. Second Research Question: Types of Activities that Motivates
the Students ............................................................................................ p. 15
i. Demographic questions ................................................................. p. 15
ii. Questions four to seven: level of students’ language skills .......... p. 15
iii. Questions on students’ attitude ..................................................... p. 16
iv. Questions concerning cooperative learning .................................. p. 17
v. Questions about activities and strategies ...................................... p. 18
vi. Questions about class atmosphere. ............................................... p. 19
vii. Students’ favorite types of activities ............................................. p. 19
viii. Activities students wanted to do more .......................................... p. 20
ix. Activities that the teacher should do to make English more
interesting ...................................................................................... p. 20
c. Third Research Question: Correlation Between Teachers’ and
Students’ answers ................................................................................... p. 21
5. Discussion...................................................................................................... p. 22
6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... p. 24
7. References ..................................................................................................... p. 26
8. Appendix A ................................................................................................... p. 28
9. Appendix B .................................................................................................... p. 31
10. Appendix C .................................................................................................... p. 35
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 3

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS TOWARDS ACTIVITIES

CONDUCTED IN CLASS

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions and opinions of 67 ESL learners and two ESL

teachers towards different types of activities, and the categories of activities which might

influence a student’s motivation. The students were either in elementary or secondary

school. The three research questions allowed to have a better understanding of the teachers’

view and opinion, as well as those of the students, and to examine whether the views of

both teachers and students agree. The study was conducted through the use of

questionnaires, one for the teacher and one for the students. The results put forward

different types of activities and strategies put in place by the teacher, and showed that the

participants of the study had positive attitudes toward learning the second language and

seemed to enjoy most of the activities discussed in the study. Results also illustrated a high

level of correspondence between teachers’ and students’ answers.

Introduction

Many factors can affect one’s willingness to learn a new language, such as one’s

ability, the perception of the second language (L2) at home, etc. Two of the most important

factors related to learning a new language are one’s motivation and attitudes towards the

target language. Motivation can have many definitions, but, in the context of learning an

L2, Gardner defined it as the “effort to learn a language together with the desire to achieve

a goal and supported by positive attitudes toward learning the language” (as cited in

Hummel, 2014, p.262). Attitudes refer to “a predisposition or tendency to respond in an

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 4

evaluative manner toward someone or something” (Hummel, 2014, p.201). These remain

two of the top preoccupations and priorities of the teaching world. When students adopt

positive attitudes and have a high motivation, valuable learning occurs. Even though there

are external factors that can influence students’ motivation such as one’s health, his/her

family background, and exposure to technology, something can be done in the classroom

about this matter.

Not all students are motivated to learn. This becomes a problem in the classroom

for teachers and the other students who have a strong desire to learn a new language and

that are motivated. The unmotivated student will cause difficult management problems in

the classroom and can lead to an unpleasant classroom atmosphere and affect the teacher’s

motivation (Falout, Elwood, & Hood, 2009). Factors found to be influencing student

motivation have been explored in several studies. However, as stated by Rinne (1998), a

strategy that works for a student one day may not be effective the next day since the

population in schools differ and its context varies one year after the other. Furthermore, the

methods used to motivate will affect each student differently, which is why investigating

the factors motivating the students to learn a language is still relevant today.

Another reason to look into motivational issues is that the students who are

characterized with learning difficulties or behavioral problems show maladaptive patterns

of motivational style (Galloway, Rogers, Armstrong, & Leo, 1998). These authors argue

that although most people attribute the motivational attitudes to the students’ characteristic,

it is more likely to be explained by the interaction between the students and the varied

activities found in the school classroom. In addition, it appears that learned helplessness is
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 5

a factor that influences the motivation and attitudes toward learning and that these students

reject any attempts to keep on going due to their lack of achieving high grades.

The aim of this research is threefold, and thus based on three research questions:

1. What types of strategies and activities are used by teachers to keep students

on track, motivated and involved in their learning?

2. What types of activities help to better grasp the students’ attention and

motivate them, according to their perception?

3. Do the teachers’ perceptions regarding activities and strategies that

motivate students agree with the view of the students?

Literature Review

Motivation is at the heart of learning. Much research on this topic has been done in the

past to inquire about the reasons that drive students to achieve their learning goals and

succeed. Moreover, each researcher has his/her own theory about what and how motivation

affects learners which had and still has a huge impact in the field of education. First, Rinne

(1998) states that motivation is a “percentage game” meaning that this human feeling varies

depending on when learning takes place, where, and, perhaps, on the weather forecast.

Being a long-time teacher, Rinne (1998) suspects that an approach to teaching that focuses

on the lesson content produces the highest encouraging and efficient method to motivate

students. In addition, he states that any good teacher is capable of coming up with different

intrinsic lures from the lesson content to the students. By revealing varied appeals, the

characteristic of the content, chance is that all the students in the class will be captivated

by something in the lesson. In other words, he believes that what prevails is to hook the

students right from the start, pick their curiosity and stimulate their imagination. Indeed,
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 6

variation is important to captivate the students’ attention, revealing appeals must fascinate

in order not to bring students to boredom. Moreover, challenging the students to execute

tasks that are neither too difficult nor too easy is another practice that provides student

motivation. Rinne (1998) reveals that students will achieve tasks on the account of feeling

satisfaction from something they realize they can accomplish. The rewards are seen by

some teachers to be practical and somehow magical, especially for younger students in

elementary schools. Students quickly learn to behave and work properly to obtain some

kind of compensation. Extrinsic rewards derive from the outside of a person and lead

students to positive behaviour. In fact, they do not. Professionals in the field of teaching

debate about such methods seeing that it promotes the students to believe that they are the

only reasons to studying and working hard at school (Pastoll, 2009). Likewise, Hootstein

(2016) believes that offering students tangible prizes and privileges to increase student

motivation generates detrimental effects. Pastoll (2009) states that intrinsic motivation

relies on delighting in ordinary experiences and promotes the development of autonomy in

students which will form their learning behavior. In addition, teachers tend to implement

new strategies to support conventional teaching through activities, games, and include tasks

that captivate the students’ interests (Hootstein, 2016). Furthermore, it appears essential to

provoke students’ enthusiasm right from the beginning of a lesson. Using strategies to

trigger their appetite, promotes positive attitudes toward the language course content and

increases the learner’s desirability to learn (Guilloteaux & Dörnyei, 2008). Next, some

authors suggest that a technology-supported learning environment creates motivation and

brings about challenge, control, creativity, competition, cooperation, recognition (Gee,

2003), and enhancement of students’ curiosity (Mayer, 2011). According to Mayer (2011),
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 7

more researchers have reported on the benefits of technology in schools to motivate

students.

Regarding the climate of the classroom, Clement, Dörnyei and Noels (1994)

established a connection between a positive classroom atmosphere and cohesiveness and

an increase in motivation among the students. They also found that the atmosphere and

cohesion of the classroom also had positive outcomes on the students’ performances. In

addition, Wingfield and Wagner (2007), in their study, found that group work had positive

effects on the L2 learners, since they would be able to identify themselves to their

classmates with which they share similarities. When these learners would work together, it

would lead to an increase of their motivation, which in turn would improve their

performances. In addition, it has been proven that if students have positive attitudes toward

the L2 and its culture, there are more chances that their L2 acquisition will be improved

(Ellis, 1994).

Methodology

School Context and Participants

The action research project was conducted in two different schools in the city of

Quebec: the elementary school L’École de l’Escale et du Plateau and the high school

Académie Ste-Marie. The elementary school is situated in Charlesbourg and is part of the

Premières-Seigneuries School Board. The school was ranked 4/10 on a low-income rank

(1 being the least disadvantaged and 10 being the most disadvantaged), and 2/10 on a socio-

economical rank (MEES, 2017). Overall, there were 511 students and a few different

programs, such as musicals, intensive English, English concentration, and Montessori. The

two groups that participated in this research, as well as their ESL teacher, Mrs. Tremblay
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 8

(a pseudonym), were from the Montessori program, whose main goal is to regroup students

from different levels in one group. Thus, students in each group were in grades four, five

and six. This grouping method is meant to help the students develop their cooperation and

social skills through learning with students from other levels than their own. Therefore, the

two groups participating in this study were composed of students from grade four, five and

six who were always together in class, both in their homeroom classes and speciality

classes (i.e. English, music, and physical education classes). It also centers the learning

around the students’ needs by regulating it through observation of the teacher.

As for the Académie Ste-Marie, which is situated in Beauport, it is also part of the

Premières-Seigneuries School Board. The school was ranked 5/10 on a low income rank

and 2/10 on a socio-economical rank (MEES, 2016). This high school, mainly constituted

of students in the first secondary cycle, has a population surpassing 500 students. The

school has an educational project called ASM that has three objectives. The first objective

relies on offering support to the students for an easy transition between cycle one and cycle

two. Other objectives in this project take into consideration promoting the success of the

students by offering them different formations that will respond to their needs, promoting

and offering a safe and harmonious environment for students by aiming towards respectful

relationships, developing a sense of belonging, and ensuring follow-ups with the students.

In addition, the school staff works to develop the quality of the students’ first language,

which is French, in writing and reading. The Académie Ste-Marie offers two types of

English programs: Enriched English as a Second Language (EESL) and advanced English

which is a program considered to be in between the EESL program and the core program

of English. Concerning the EESL program, the students had twelve classes of English on
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 9

thirty-six, that is, thirty percent of the time. The program offers them the possibility to

participate in an immersion school trip every year and they are teamed up with students

from a high school in Manhattan, New York, in a tandem project. Furthermore, the focus

of this EESL program takes into consideration cooperative learning, tutoring and

teamwork. To be part of this program, students must be capable of learning at an increased

speed. In both programs, students must have maintained a high degree of academic

performance in the third cycle of primary school. The school also offers other concentration

programs such as the sciences and multisport. The participants of this project were the

students of a secondary one class in the EESL program with their teacher named Mrs. Roy

(a pseudonym) who had been teaching English as an L2 nearly 12 years. The students were

12 and 13 years old.

Research Instruments

This research will be conducted through the use of surveys to compile relevant data

on the topic of motivation in children learning a second language. For the purpose of this

study, there were two types of questionnaires used which were created by the researchers,

one intended for the teachers, and the other one for the students. The teachers willingly

gave their approval to be part of this study. In addition, ethical approval to conduct the

study was obtained from the students’ parents. All participants will remain anonymous and

only the research team will have access to the data. A total of two sample questionnaires

from the teachers were filled out and 67 questionnaires were completed by the students

both from the elementary and the secondary levels.

Teacher questionnaire. To begin this process, a seven-item questionnaire was

developed in order to investigate the teachers’ perceptions on the types of strategies and
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 10

activities that keep the students motivated in learning English. Items one to five focused

mainly on the types of activities and strategies used by the teachers to motivate their

students, while the sixth item focused on their opinions about the different characteristics

influencing a student’s motivation. The last question investigated the teachers’ views about

letting students choose tasks. All items were open questions, and the questionnaire was

only given once at the beginning of the study. An additional section to the questionnaire

was added for further investigation. It consisted of a series of statements referring to varied

motivational strategies. This was written in the form of a Likert-type scale and indicated

how the teachers considered the value of each cited strategy: from being a factor of a high

motivational strategy to an ineffective method.

Student questionnaire. Likewise, the second step was to give the students a

questionnaire. Twenty-nine items were developed to inquire about their motivation to learn

English and the types of activities that they thought increased their motivation. The items

were adapted from the answers received by the teachers through the questionnaire they had

completed. The first part of the questionnaire included three items about demographic

characteristics, such as gender, age, and the year in school. The second section consisted

of four items about their perception of their English competency. The compilation of the

information from the two first sections was used to draw a portrait of the participants and

their level of English skills through short-answer and multiple choice questions. In the third

section, items eight to 26 employed a Likert-type scale to indicate how true each statement

was to the students. These items were used to both draw a better portrait of the participants’

attitudes towards learning English, and examine their perceptions of their English course,

thus investigating on the types of activities the students found the most interesting and that
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 11

increased their motivation. In the last section, items 27 to 29 were open questions

deepening their opinions about the types of activities that could motivate them more to go

to class and learn the language. The whole questionnaire intended for the elementary

students was bilingual, meaning that every question and its answers were given both in

English and in French to ensure the complete understanding of the questions by the

students. The questionnaire was only given once. As for the students in the EESL program

in the secondary one cycle, the questionnaire was written only in English due to their

language proficiency. Furthermore, instead of having a paper version, the questionnaire

was given through an online application called Socrative.

Data Gathering

The first step in collecting data for this action research was to administer the teacher

questionnaire to the participating teachers. Both teachers could bring the questionnaire at

home in order for them to be able to reflect on the questions before answering. Then, the

second step was to adapt the student questionnaire from the answers received by the

teachers.

The third step to conduct the study was to present the questionnaire to the students

who were taking part in the research. The students at the elementary level were given paper

copies. The questions were not read to the students considering that they were both written

in English and in French to facilitate their comprehension. On the occasion that the students

did not grasp the meaning of a question, the researcher could offer his support and assist

the student by answering his/her interrogations about the different items on the list. The

questionnaire was distributed only once. Likewise, the questionnaire was given only once

to the students at the high school level. The researcher administered the questionnaire by
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 12

using an online tool called Socrative, and the researcher was available to provide assistance

to the students who needed extra explanations about ambiguous questions.

Data Analysis

Once the data was collected, it was compiled in an Excel sheet by the researchers.

The data gathered from the teacher questionnaires were analyzed as qualitative data and

compared to each other. The approach used to analyze the data from the student

questionnaire was done through descriptive statistics, which is to describe and summarize

the information gathered. Thus, the quantitative data gathered from the multiple choice and

Likert-style questions (questions 4 to 26) were compiled in order to know precisely how

many students chose each answer for each question. This led to having a better view of the

students’ perceptions and opinions about the different items. Moreover, the qualitative data

collected from the open-ended questions (questions 27 to 29) were also compiled in order

to know what answers were most popular amongst the students. Statistical comparisons

were then made between data from the elementary and the secondary students. In addition,

organizing data by using graphs shows the information in a simple manner to understand

the frequency of the results. Lastly, the data gathered from the teacher questionnaires and

from the student questionnaire were compared to examine whether there was an agreement

between the teachers’ perceptions and opinions, and the students’.

Results

First Research Question: Strategies and Activities Used by Teachers

Questions one to three: strategies. To begin, question one required to list between

five and ten most useful strategies. Mrs. Tremblay, the elementary ESL teacher, listed eight

really important strategies that she taught her students. Those strategies were listening,
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 13

participating, speaking in English, looking, concentrating, asking for help, doing the

actions, and doing the gestures, to which she also added circumlocution, plan and review.

She added, in the following question, that she modeled these strategies with the students

all through the two first cycles of the elementary program, so that students were able to use

them themselves when they move to the third cycle and to secondary school. She also

stated, in question three, that “they are used to bring my students to be more independent

and secure in the learning process,” and that the students had to use these strategies every

class. Mrs. Tremblay explained that she made sure that the students clearly understood the

strategies, that she modeled them and that she wrote to the parents so that they were aware

of the strategies and how their children were using them.

Mrs Roy, the teacher at the secondary level, listed nine strategies to question one:

project-based learning, the communicative approach, the use of ICTs, brainstorming, pre-

reading, summarizing, using visual and videos, activating prior knowledge, and

differentiation. For the second question, she mentioned that all of the methods mentioned

above were implemented in her teaching for diverse purposes. Mrs Roy set up her class in

groups of four. As a result, communication and projects were at the heart of her teaching

methodology. Furthermore, she mentioned using conspicuously all the strategies written in

the questionnaire to interest the students.

Question four: best strategy to improve students’ motivation. In answer to the

fourth question, Mrs Tremblay stated that the best strategies to improve students’

motivation were modeling the strategies mentioned earlier and give the students the tools

to help them understand (i.e., vocabulary lists, grammar points, dictionary, etc.), whereas
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 14

Mrs Roy considered that hooking the students with visuals was her best strategy. She added

that procuring a goal to the students was another important factor to increase motivation.

Question five: activities that seem to interest students the most. Upon asking

which activities appeared to interest the students the most, working in teams, playing

games, and using their iPads were Mrs Roy’s response. The elementary school teacher, for

her part, reported that her students seemed to prefer LESs that contained many kinds of

activities (e.g., writing, reading, arts, games, listening, etc.). She added that it was

important to respect what the students liked and disliked, and to try to respect them as much

as possible when creating LESs that will be carrying out on a few classes.

Question six: what influences a student’s motivation? Mrs Tremblay stated that

one important thing is if whether the student liked English or not, and whether the teacher

respects and takes time to get to know the students. Along the same lines, Mrs Roy

responded that having a positive relation with the students maintained the students’

motivation.

Question seven: student choice of activities. On the one hand, the elementary

teacher answered that she liked to give students a choice between two or three different

elements because she feels like students appreciate to have a sense of power even though

this power was controlled by the teacher. On the other hand, Mrs Roy, the secondary

teacher, did not agree with this idea. Her reaction to this question was that she acted more

as the leader of the class.

Last question: ranking strategies from highly motivational to poorly

motivational factors. According to Mrs Tremblay, high-excellent strategies were: giving

constructive feedback, using cooperative learning (CL), exposing students to motivated

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 15

people, having hands on learning experiences, letting the students have a say in their

learning, including ICTs, having a positive relation with the students and relating materials

to students’ lives. All other statements were considered to be moderate/good motivational

factors, except for attributing a reward system, which she considered to be low/somewhat

motivational.

As for Mrs Roy, exposing students to motivated people, including ICTs, having a

good relationship with the students, and relating the teaching material to their lives were

considered to be remarkably excellent motivational factors. According to her opinion, all

the other statements on the list were categorized as moderate/good motivational factors.

Finally, Mrs Roy did not state a ranking for the motivational factor of hands on learning

experience.

Second Research Question: Types of Activities That Motivates the Students

Demographic questions. Out of the 43 elementary students, there were thirteen

students in fourth grade, fifteen students in fifth grade and fifteen students in sixth grade.

Twenty-two of these students were girls whereas there were 20 boys, and one participant

forgot to answer this question. For the students at the secondary school, all participants

attended year one of the first cycle. Seventeen girls and seven boys answered the

questionnaire.

Question four to seven: level of students’ language skills. The elementary

students’ perception of their own English skills (i.e., writing, speaking, listening and

reading comprehension) showed that a majority of students perceived their skills as being

so-so to very good, with only a minority of students viewing their skills as poor or very

poor. The same thing could be observed from the students at the secondary level.
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 16

Questions on students’ attitude. More than 80% of the students at the elementary

level answered that they agreed and strongly agreed to enjoying going to their English

classes, while 12% answered that they disagreed and only 2% totally disagreed. At the

secondary level, all students answered that they either agreed or strongly agreed (see graph

1). When asked if the students thought that learning English was useful, 91% of the

secondary 1 students strongly agreed and 8% agreed, whereas 84% of the elementary

students strongly agreed, 14% agreed and 2% totally disagreed. Regarding the statement

“I think that the subjects seen in class are interesting,” more than 85% of the elementary

students either strongly agreed or agreed to the affirmation, and only 9% and 2%

respectively disagreed and strongly disagreed. Also, 2% answered both ‘I agree’ and ‘I

disagree’ to that statement. A percentage of 75% of the secondary students agreed that the

subjects in class were interesting, 20% strongly agreed and 4% disagreed. English was

considered important to all the students at the secondary level and to 98% of the elementary

students; only 2% of the elementary students strongly disagreed to the statement.

Regarding the statement stating that learning English is stressful, the results showed that,

in the secondary group, 4% strongly agreed, 12.5% agreed, 58% disagreed, and 25%

strongly disagreed to being stressed. At the elementary level, more than 60% of the students

disagreed and strongly disagreed to English being stressful, whereas 14% and 19%

respectively agreed and strongly agreed.

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 17

Graph 1. Attitude toward the English class

Number of students enjoying going to their English classes
according to their school level
70%
Pourcentage of students

60%
50%
40% Elem. Grade 4
30% Elem. Grade 5
20% Elem. Grade 6
10% Sec. Grade 1
0%
I strongly agree I agree I disagree I totally disagree
Students' opinion

Questions concerning cooperative learning. The results showed that both

elementary and secondary students enjoyed working with others in their language class.

Fifty-eight percent and 40% of the elementary students respectively strongly agreed and

agreed to the statement, whereas 2% disagreed. At the secondary level, 41% strongly

agreed and 58% agreed on this statement. In addition, they stated that working with

teammates helped them better understand the subject to a proportion of 33% who strongly

agreed and 63% who agreed. At the elementary level, 49% and 37% respectively strongly

agreed and agreed, and 14% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. The results were similar

with the statement stating that working with others helps them improve their English skills,

with 25% of the secondary students strongly agreed and 75% agreed, whereas the

elementary students answered in the proportion of 42% and 51%, respectively. Seven

percent of the students at the elementary level either disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Alternatively, a total of 58% of secondary students disagreed with the statement “I prefer

to work alone,” although 33% agreed. As for the elementary students 30% disagreed with

the statement whereas 23% agreed.

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 18

Table 1. Students’ opinions towards cooperative learning (number of students)

Table 2. Students’ opinions towards individual work (percentage)

Questions about activities and strategies. Regarding the students’ opinions

towards activities and strategies used by their ESL teacher, the results show that both

elementary and secondary students perceived all the items mentioned as being helpful in

their L2 acquisition or as being more agreeable while still being helpful, except for one

type of activity. Thus, students reported in an imposing majority (more than 90% in most

cases) that they either agreed or strongly agreed to the statements. This means that activities

such as watching videos or movies, working on projects, talking within small groups,

working with iPads (or ICTs), viewing visuals (pictures), having interesting introductions

and modelling of the activity by the teacher are all techniques reported by the participants

to be agreeable and useful in their L2 acquisition. The ability for the students to choose the

subject was also considered as being agreeable by the participants, but with a lesser

majority than for the other items, with 76% of the students either strongly agreeing or

agreeing. The only activity considered as not being helpful or agreeable was learning from
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 19

a textbook, with 61% and 4% of the participants respectively disagreeing and strongly

disagreeing, against 7% and 28% respectively strongly agreeing and agreeing.

Table 3. Students’ opinions towards the types of activities (percentage)

Question about class atmosphere. For item 18, 67% of the students at the

secondary level answered that the atmosphere in class helped them to be motivated and

attend class, 21% strongly agreed. Only 12.5% disagreed with this statement. As for the

students from the elementary level, 37% and 35% answered that they respectively strongly

agreed and agreed with the statement. Twenty-six percent disagreed and only 2% strongly

disagreed.

Students’ favorite types of activities. When asked about their two favorite types

of activities, the answers that stood out were: working on projects (21 students out of 43),

watching movies (12), doing collaborative work (12) and making presentations (6). Among

secondary students, the most popular activity pointed out as their favorite consisted of

using technologies (12 out of 24 students), especially using the iPad. Working on projects

(10) and in teams (9) were listed as the second and third most popular choices. Different

games and activities including all the class was their fourth best option (5). Watching

movies or videos (4), reading and then having questions to aid their comprehension were

favoured (2). Other items on their list included writing texts, working in the activity book,

and doing big presentation projects.

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 20

Activities students wanted to do more. Item 28 of the questionnaire referred to

the types of activities the students would like to do more often in their ESL classes. The

most popular answer from the elementary students was collaborative work, with ten

students out of 43 reporting this answer, although five of them specified that they preferred

to work in pairs. The second most popular activity was working on projects (8), and the

third one was watching movies (7). As for the secondary students, the most popular activity

was using the iPads and technologies (9 out of 24 students). The second most popular

answers were the activities done in teams and the games when they were with the English

monitor (6). In third place came watching more movies with which they had to answer

comprehension questions (4). Reading books and participating in projects were reported

next (3).

Activities that the teacher should do to make English more interesting. The last

question of the questionnaire concerned the types of activities teachers should implement

in order to make the L2 more interesting. The answer who came back the most of the

elementary students was that nothing had to change in the English classroom (14 out of 43

students). The second most popular answer was outings related to the English language

and culture (4). The third and fourth most popular answers were respectively to have more

collaborative work (3) and to have more arts projects (2). The secondary level students’

most popular answers regarding what they wished their teacher should consider were, in

the order listed, including projects (6 out of 24), using hooks such as videos, having short

activities, and using pictures before a lesson (5), preparing activities (4), incorporating the

iPads (3), and showing movies (2).

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 21

Third Research Question: Correlation Between Teachers’ and Students’ Answers

After comparison between the teacher’s answers and the students’, similarities were

revealed. First, the secondary teacher listed that project-based learning was an important

strategy she used with her students, which correlates with the students’ attitudes towards

such projects (see table 3). A strong majority of students had answered that they strongly

agreed or agreed to the usefulness of doing projects in their L2 acquisition. Projects were

also the secondary students’ second preferred activity. Second, regarding the use of ICTs,

both the elementary and the secondary teacher classified it as being a highly motivating

factor for the students. Along the same line, the students also stated in a vast majority that

using iPads in class was agreeable and useful (see table 3), and the secondary students even

ranked the use of ICTs as their first favorite activity. A third similarity is that both teachers

stated that having a positive relationship with the students is an important factor for their

motivation, which fits with the students’ opinions that the classroom atmosphere helped

them be motivated, with 72% of the elementary students and 88% of the secondary students

either strongly agreeing or agreeing the statement.

Regarding the possibility of letting the students have a choice in the activities or

topics covered in class, the two teachers disagreed: the secondary teacher stated that she

did not let the students such choices, whereas the elementary teacher considered it was

important since it gave the students some responsibilities and some semblance of power.

However, the secondary teacher still considered letting the students have a say in their

learning process as being moderately motivational element, while the elementary teacher

considered it as being highly motivating. Accordingly, 76% of the students stated that they
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 22

would like to choose subjects covered during class. Lastly, the elementary teacher ranked

cooperative learning as a highly motivating factor, whereas the secondary teacher

considered it as a moderate factor, but she listed the communicative approach as a useful

strategy. Both strategies involve students to speak in small groups which they highly

preferred and relates to these two strategies. Moreover, over 90% of the students

acknowledged CL as being favorable and agreeable. In addition, CL came as the first

favorite activity for the elementary students and the third for the secondary students.

However, 27 % of the students still enjoy working by themselves.

Discussion

The results of this action research showed that, in the most part, students had

positive attitudes towards learning English. Indeed, a vast majority stated that they enjoyed

going to their English class and that they perceived the subjects covered by the teacher as

being interesting. Plus, they believe that learning English is useful, while not really being

stressful. As supposed by Ellis (1994), such positive attitudes toward learning English

would certainly lead to ameliorate the students’ language acquisition and performances.

Although the students did not mention anything regarding their relationship with

the teacher, both the teacher at the elementary and the secondary level emphasized the fact

that building a relation with students had a positive influence on students’ motivation. It is

suggested that “the smallest incident of confidence-building can become a turning point in

a student’s motivation to learn” (Pastoll, 2009, p. 140). Moreover, Pastoll (2009) argues

that the simplest thing said to students potentially affects their attitude toward learning. In

order to build confidence in a student, there must be mutual respect and the teacher being

a model should be the first to initiate rapport with the students by being friendly, lively,
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 23

available, and open. “Murphey, Falout, Fukada, and Fukada (2012), in their review of the

literature on group dynamics in education, point out the many benefits of a positive social

climate: a greater sense of belongingness that reflects the human need to feel accepted by

others; greater feelings of security and wellbeing; higher levels of autonomous and self-

regulated behaviors; a stronger sense of identity; higher levels of interest and engagement;

higher academic achievement; becoming more helpful, considerate, and cooperative in

learning and communicating; and increased appreciation of members within the group” (as

cited in Poupore, 2016, p.723). Another valuable form of building relationships and student

trust is to quickly get to know their names. Additionally, show interest in who they are and

what they like. Kumaravadivelu (1991) said that when we know the learner’s personal

approaches and perceptions, our intervention with the student will be more productive.

With respect to using ICTs in the classroom, both teachers and students considered

it as being extremely motivating. This is to no surprise since students are greatly attracted

by almost anything relating to the Internet, television, and video games. One way to bring

about lessons that captivate the students relies on implementing technology in class as

much as possible. As mentioned by Mayer (2011), “learner motivation can be supported

with new media”. Thus, using ICTs is a strategy that can make teaching lessons more

appealing to students in that it includes novelty. Varied and innovative uses of technology

intend to promote motivation in learning such as building wikis, collaborative writing, and

game-making (Mayer, 2011). Furthermore, he states that “special motivational properties

may be afforded by games and related computer-supported activities”.

Regarding the opinions of both the teachers and the students toward teamwork, they

all considered it to be highly motivational, agreeable and useful in learning English. In

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 24

addition, group work has been proven to have many positive outcomes. Students can relate

and identify with others, which could in turn increase the students’ motivation and thus

their performances (Wingfield & Wagner, 2007). In addition, Yashima (2012) argues that

teamwork helps the students practice and improve their communication skills.

Furthermore, another positive effect of group work it that “when [it is] properly conducted,

a cooperative learning exercise liberates a lot of student energy, because it enables them to

use their minds freely” (Pastoll, 2009, p.152)

Conclusion

To conclude, this action research examined, first, the types of strategies and

activities that were used by teachers to keep students alert, motivated and involved in

learning English as a second language. Second, what were the different activities that lead

students to be more attentive and motivated from their perception. And, if the views of the

teachers concurred with the ones of the students. The results found in this research supply

practical tips for pedagogical purposes. Teachers should be made aware that there is quite

a substantial array of methods available to increase student motivation. Given the fact that

students become easily weary of school and sometimes indifferent, increasing the

consciousness of teachers to productive strategies becomes relevant. Sufficient training on

using efficient motivating approaches would empower them to change things by raising

students’ motivation to learn and place them on a path toward success. We can identify a

few investigations that could be done for future research concerning the topic of motivation

at school. First, inquiries could examine if the strategies used by language teachers apply

to other topics at school and thus also create an impact on motivation. Second, further

research could study the implementation of these strategies in a low-income socio

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 25

economical rank school where children have learning difficulties to see if it brings change

to the students’ views on learning a second language and improve their grades significantly.

Additionally, other investigations could be to compare student motivation in schools with

programs that have adopted ICTs in the learning process with others who do not benefit

such technology.
 ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 26

References

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in the foreign language classroom. Language Learning, 44, 417–448.

Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Falout, J., Elwood, J., & Hood, M. (2009). Demotivation: Affective states and learning Outcomes.

System 37, 403-407.

Galloway, D., Rogers, C., Armstrong, D., & Leo, E. (1998). Motivating the difficult to teach. New

York, NY: Addison Wesley Longman Limited Inc.

Guilloteaux, M. J., Dörnyei, Z. (2008). Motivating language learners: a classroom-oriented

investigation of the effects of motivational strategies on student motivation. TESOL

Quarterly, 42 (1), 55-77.

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York:

Palgrave.

Hootstein, E. W. (1994). Motivating students to learn. The Clearing House, 67 (4), 213-216.

Hummel, K. (2014). Introducing Second Language Acquisition: Perspectives and Practices.

Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kumaravadivelu, B. (1991). Language-learning tasks: Teacher intention and learner interpretation.

ELTJournal, 45, 98-107.

Mayer, R. E., (2011). Towards a science of motivated learning in technology-supported

environments. Educational Technology and Development, 59 (2), 301-308.

MEES. (2017). “Indice de défavorisation – 2015-2016.” Retrieved from

http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/PSG/statistiques_info_d

ecisionnelle/Indices_PUBLICATION_20152016.pdf
 ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 27

Pastoll, G., (2009). Motivating people to learn...and teachers to teach. Bloomington, IN:

AuthorHouse.

Poupore, G. (2016). Measuring group work dynamics and its relation with L2 learners’ task

motivation and language production. Language Teaching research, 20(6), 719-740.

Rinne, C. H. (1998). Motivating students is a percentage game. The Phi Delta Kappan, 79 (8),

620-624, 626, 628.

Wigfield, A., & Wagner, A.L. (2007). Competence, motivation, and identify development during

adolescence. In A.J. Elliot, & C.S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation

(pp. 222–239). New York: The Guilford Press.

Yashima, T. (2012). Willingness to communicate: Momentary volition that results in L2 behav-

iour. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan, & M. Williams (Eds.), Psychology for language learning:

Insights from research, theory, and practice (pp. 119–135). Houndmills: Palgrave

Macmillan.
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 28

Appendix A

Teacher Questionnaire

1. Make a list of strategies (5-10) that you think are the most useful when teaching
to the students.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. Do you implement any of these strategies in your classes? Which ones?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. To what extent are these strategies used in your class?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

4. According to you, what is the best strategy to improve students’ motivation?

Why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
 ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 29

5. What types of activities seem to interest the students the most?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

6. What do you think influences a student’s motivation?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

7. Do you sometimes let the students choose the activities/topics they will do in
class? Why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

8. Rank the following statements from highly being motivational factors to poor according to
your opinion.

HIGH - MODERATE- LOW- NONE-

EXCELLENT GOOD SOMEWHAT POOR

Give constructive feedback

Cooperative learning

Expose students to motivated

people

Hands on learning experience

Let the students have a say in their

learning process

Include ICT

Give the students enough challenge

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 30

Use constructive competitiveness

Use self-evaluations

Attributing a system of rewards

Problem-solving activities

Explicit planned instruction

Rapport with the student

Relate material to students’ lives

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 31

Appendix B

Student Questionnaire

1. I am a…Je suis un(e).. a. Girl / Fille

b. Boy / Garçon

2. How old are you? Quel âge as-tu ? ____________________

3. In what grade are you? En quelle année es-tu ? ____________________

For questions 4 to 7, circle the answer that corresponds the most to what is true
to you.
Pour les question 4 à 7, encercle la réponse qui correspond le mieux à ce qui est
vrai pour toi.

4. According to you, what is your level of writing in English?

Selon toi, quel est ton niveau d’écriture en anglais?
a. Very good / Très bon
b. Good / Bon
c. So-so / Moyen
d. Poor / Faible
e. Very poor / Très faible

5. According to you, what is your level of speaking in English?

Selon toi, quel est ton niveau oral en anglais?
a. Very good / Très bon
b. Good / Bon
c. So-so / Moyen
d. Poor / Faible
e. Very poor / Très faible

6. According to you, what is your level of listening comprehension in English?

Selon toi, quel est ton niveau de compréhension de l’écoute en anglais?
a. Very good / Très bon
b. Good / Bon
c. So-so / Moyen
d. Poor / Faible
e. Very poor / Très faible

7. According to you, what is your level of reading comprehension in English?

Selon toi, quel est ton niveau de compréhension de la lecture en anglais?
a. Very good / Très bon
b. Good / Bon
 ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 32

c. So-so / Moyen
d. Poor / Faible
e. Very poor / Très faible

For the questions 8 to 26, put an X in the box that corresponds the most to what is
true for you.
Pour les questions 8 à 26, fais un X dans la case qui correspond le plus à ce qui
est vrai pour toi.
I strongly I agree / I disagree / I strongly
agree / Je Je suis Je ne suis disagree / Je
suis tout à d’accord pas ne suis pas du
fait d’accord tout d’accord
d’accord

8 I enjoy going to my English classes.

J’aime aller à mes cours d’anglais.

9 I enjoy working with others in my

English classes.
J’aime travailler avec les autres
dans mes cours d’anglais.

10 I think that learning English is

useful.
Je pense qu’apprendre l’anglais est
utile.

11 I think that the subjects seen in

class are interesting.
Je pense que les sujets vus en
classe sont intéressants.

12 I think that learning English is

important.
Je pense qu’apprendre l’anglais est
important.

13 I think that watching videos/movies

in English help me improve my
English skills.
Je pense que regarder des
vidéos/films en anglais m’aide à
améliorer mes compétences en
anglais.
 ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 33

14 Working with teammates helps me

understand the subject.
Travailler en groupe m’aide à
comprendre mieux la matière.

15 I think that working with others helps

me improve my English skills.
Je pense que travailler avec les
autres m’aide à améliorer mes
compétences en anglais.

16 I think that doing projects helps me

learn English.
Je pense que faire des projets
m’aident à apprendre l’anglais.

17 I prefer learning from a textbook.

Je préfère apprendre avec des
manuels.

18 The classroom atmosphere helps

me to be motivated and to come to
class.
L’atmosphère de la classe m’aide à
être motiver et à venir au cours.

19 Learning English stresses me.

Apprendre l’anglais me stresse.

20 I prefer to speak English when I am

in a small group than in front of the
class.
Je préfère parler en anglais quand
je suis en petit groupe que devant
toute la classe.

21 I like it when we use the iPads in

class for activities.
J’aime quand on utilise les iPads en
classe pour des activités.

22. I prefer that my teacher picks my

curiosity at the beginning of a
lesson with a short introduction
activity.
Je préfère que mon enseignant
pique ma curiosité au début du
cours par une courte introduction.
 ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 34

23. Using pictures makes the class

more interesting.
L’utilisation d’images rend le cours
plus intéressant.

24. I would like to choose the subjects.

J’aimerais pouvoir choisir les
thèmes.

25. I like when the teacher models the

activity.
J’aime quand l’enseignant modèle
l’activité.

26. I prefer to work alone.

Je préfère travailler seul.

For the questions 27 to 29, write your opinion about the questions.
Pour les questions 27 à 29, écrit ton opinion par rapport aux questions.

27. What are your two favourite types of activities in your English class?
Quels sont tes deux activités préférées dans ton cours d’anglais?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

28. What type of activity would you like to do more often in class?
Quel type d’activité aimerais-tu faire plus souvent dans ton cours d’anglais?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

29. What type of activity should the teacher do to make English more interesting?
Quel type d’activité devrait faire ton enseignant(e) pour rendre l’anglais plus
intéressant?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION OF ESL LEARNERS 35

Appendix C
Recherche-action

Personnes responsables du projet : Alexandra Lemonnier et Sylvie Hamel

Programme d’études : Baccalauréat en Enseignement de l’Anglais Langue Seconde
École : Université Laval

Cher parent,
Votre enfant est invité à prendre part à un projet de recherche visant à déterminer les
attitudes et motivations des élèves dans l’apprentissage de l’anglais en tant que langue seconde.
L’enseignante de la classe a déjà donné son accord à ce projet. Avec votre permission votre enfant
sera invité à répondre en classe à un questionnaire sur les attitudes et les motivations de
l’apprentissage de l’anglais chez les jeunes. La contribution de votre enfant favorisera l’avancement
des connaissances dans le domaine de l’apprentissage scolaire.
Il est entendu que les renseignements recueillis auprès de votre enfant sont confidentiels,
aucune information ne permettra d’identifier votre enfant et seules les personnes responsables du
projet auront accès au contenu du questionnaire et utiliseront les renseignements recueillis aux fin
d’un travail écrit à remettre dans le cadre de leur programme d’étude.
La collaboration de votre enfant est importante pour la réalisation de ce projet mais, quelle
que soit votre décision nous vous remercions du temps pris à examiner cette demande.
En tant que parent de l’enfant participant à cette recherche, je reconnais avoir lu le présent
formulaire et consens volontairement à ce que mon enfant participe à ce projet de recherche.

J’autorise mon enfant à répondre en classe à un questionnaire :

oui _______non ________

Nom, en lettres moulées, et coordonnées

_____________________________________________
Signature parentale
______________________________________________________________

Date_____________________________________

Nom, en lettres moulées, de l’enfant

________________________________________________

Merci de votre collaboration,

Alexandra Lemonnier et Sylvie Hamel