Introduction
I think the motivation is very important part in the teaching and in the preparation of
pupil. I do not want to describe things which are known and which was written a pile of
papers about, there are many more clever people than me, but one my case in my career was
really very interesting and the closest to me, because I was very much engaged in. In my
work I try to give the complex analysis of case of my older daughter Pavla and I try to
concentrate on role of motivation in teaching her.
It was a great challenge for me to teach my own child, because it is not just easy to
separate the role of mother from the role of the teacher.
Also something about Pavla´s beginnings:
I began to teach foreign language my daugther when she was only four years old. But
we began with German which is in our family more used than English and mainly my parents
and me came into contact with this language and some ancestor of my husband were
Austrians or Germans. Also to German the whole family has positive relations.
Ar that time I began the teaching with songs, paintings, rhymes and tapescripts, all
activities, which Pavla liked very much. She remembered a lot of songs and rhytmical things
and I could say, that she knew more German simple fairy tales and songs than Czech ones. I
decided to choose German like a main language for her.I must admit that my preparation for
teaching of German was for Pavla very attractive and Pavla wanted to be like me, she tried to
imitate my role of teacher and she explained simple grammar stuctures which learnt to her
dolls and toys. The small children have an incredible memory and she was able to imitate the
sentence melody,which she heard from the tapescript, very good, too. Our lesson had about
twenty minutes, because I did not disgust German to her. I chose German as the main
language in Pavla´s fourth school year of the school attendence.
She was gifted with languges and I decided to have her enrolled in Language school,
English language, in the class of beginners, to my colleauge, who had with teaching English
more knowledge that time than me(my main teaching qualifikation is Czech/German, at that
time I began with learnig of English and I did not have a lot of experience with it).For the first
time Pavla was very satisfied with the style of my colleague´s teaching because according to
her statement activities were very similar to these ones, which we did in German at home.
The problems began when Pavla began with the same activities for the third time during two
years.She was fed up with this situation and she asked me not to attend this school any
longer.Up to now I am not just grateful my colleague for this situation, because the economic
interests shouldn´t have been the first, she totally disgusted my daughter and I wanted Pavla
had been taught by an specialist. It was the question what to do like the following activity. I
haven´t just a good feeling about it.At that time I worked in the basic school and in two
secondary schools simultaneously, I had been teaching aproximately for 13 years, I also had a
lot of experience with the teaching system, with its strong and weak points, with curriculum
in the basic and secondary schools, with used teaching methods in the both types of schools.I
wanted to use it in the the teaching of Pavla.But Pavla at that time did not want to listen to
anything.I was forced to wait for better situation.If you think it is easy thing to persuade an
teenager( in this case my own teenager) to cooperate, so it is a great mistake.Here my role of
mother was totally against me and Pavla had been learning for almost two years nothing of
English.
The sitatiom changed when I got a special offer to teach English Pavla´s friend
Marketa, who was younger, and I should have preapared her for entrance exam on CzechEnglish secondary school in Suché-Vrbné in České Budějovice.That is my belief, it was for
Pavla the starting moment.I must admit that the initial motivation was totally “negative“ here
because Pavla could not stand situation that younger Marketa would know more than her.We
are often accused to it that motivation must be positive but here everything was based on my
daughter´s jealousy and ambitiousness.She began to compare and to speak with me about
possibilities in following teaching. She began to consider pros and cons because I did not
hide truth from her she would be forced to work very intensively to be successful. We wanted
to change the main language, we wanted to have English like main language and the German
like the second one.She had been learned German like a main language at school and she
attended the seventh school year. I took into consideration that Pavla had been learning
English for approximately two years at Language school, then she had been leearnig nothing
approximately for following two years.Normally pupils have been learning a foreign language
for 6 years. I began to consider our possibilities again.
Firstly- it was necessary to choose a good English teaching textbook which would
have been good two girls in the seventh class of the basic school and according to which I
would have been able to preapare them for the secondary school – Project was too easy for
them, Headway –pre-intermediate/intermediate too difficult.The good choice seemed to be the
textbook Clik on with studentsbook, workbook and CD-s. Click on was at that time a pilot
programme which was tested, I had some information about it and I was interested in it very
much.When I gained this programme, I was enthusiatic about it, because these textbooks were
exactly what I needed. Even the 13-year-old girls needed a nice textbook with nice pictures,
various activities, which could be continued at secondary school, and mainly with songs, fairy
tailes and stories spoken by native speaker.I personally think this textbook was one of the
most progressive textbooks on the Czech textbooks markt at that time. This programme has
only one negative point-it is quite expensive(around 2500 Kč for one volume of studentsbook,
workbooks and textbooks for teacher, we went over 2,5 volumes-the amount total was about
7500).
Secondly- it remained to create the teaching programme and to choose rapidity which
quaranteed mastering all useful grammatical structures, understanding and vocabulary.Only
thing, which I really did not have,was time. Both girls began with learning of the second
foreign language relatively late.It remained me about 2,5 years to teach them all necessary
things.Every volume of Click on is planned for 120 lessons.(some smaples of Click on are in
the appendix)Every school lesson has 45 minutes normally when teacher has for every pupil
about 3 minutes under condition he has about 20 pupils in the group. I supposed I would work
with both girls much more intensively than during the standard teaching, I would know their
shortcomings immediately and I would be able to practise the structures according to girls
requirements.At that time I created a lot of excercises when both girls needed to practise
something more and I looked for another grammar books which helped to improve the level
of acquired knowledge of both girls.Moreover my lessons had 60 minutes, we worked every
weekday 1 hour and at weekends two hours daily(1 hour in the morning, 1 hour in the
evening).We worked during holidays, too.For the first time I worked a lot of moveable
memory which is based on Czech pexeso.This type of work I gave up later because it was
time demanding and I felt like that it was necessary to change it we did not have time enough
for type of activity. I assigned the task to girls to learn 10 words every second lesson, both
girls managed to do this type of work better.I added to every lesson 3 irregular verbs because
the majority of entrance tests is based on this part of grammar. In the 9-th class both girls
knew irregular verbs on the upper-intermediate level and we went over 2,5 volume of Click
on.
Thirdly- the whole teaching was created on the basement of competition, sometimes
very stiff- both girls were very ambitious, each of them with strong desire to be
successful.They were supported by their families during their learning and very appreciated
for their good results which seemed to be like a very motivating moment ,too.
During their attendance of the 9-th class , mainly during the summer half year
we brought up lesson subsidy from 1 to 2 hours daily on weekdays and from 2 hours to 3
hours at weekends.To my astonishment, both girls were not exhausted,they sustained a lot of
hour of English teaching and revising very good.I was forced to change activities, which done
according to textbooks, much more well-considered and to give short breaks more often
because I was afraid of it that it would not be too demanding for them.The short time before
the entrance exams both girls were used to work very hard and it was very satisfied for them
when their schoolmates, who had been learning English at school regurlarly longer, asked
them for advice when they did not know anything of English grammar. This possibility, to
compare their knowledge and their schoolmates´ one, was for them very valuable experience
which motivated them. I know I was very strict and demanding at that time but I wished they
had been succesful. I think that the hard regurlar work of both girls surfassed all expectantions
and their good results were really great satisfaction not only for the girls but also for me
mainly because I was at beginnings very skeptical and my resposibility for good results was
very high here. Pavla and Markéta were very successful in English exams, Pavla was placed
third in entrance exam of economical lyceé, in the class of 33 pupils under circumstances
when the others had been learning English 3 hours weekly for 6 years and she had been
learning properly only 2,5 years. Markéta was on top too, but unfortunately she was worse at
maths and she was forced to choose the secondary school in Český Krumlov( and not in
Suché –Vrbné), where she is according to her words satisfied, too, and in English she has
good results.
Fourthly- I think the experience with very intensive learning was very useful for both
of girls, they learned to work systematically and properly, and they utilized this knowledge in
the following learning at secondary school which is much more difficult than a basic school.
It enabled them to gain very good results and to come through in classes where another pupils
visited English speaking countries or had been living there for a short time.
Today I have been not teaching them any longer regurlarly.I sometimes help to my
daughter with assigment, my following report is only conveyed thanks my good relations to
Pavla´s English teacher which is my colleauge whom I thaught with and who has the simirlar
style of teaching and thinking like me. According to her statement Pavla´s language group is
very strong, the pupils are very goal-seeking; she declared she had had so good pupils only for
the second time in her career.Pavla has been taught in her third school year according to the
textbook Horizons,the 4th, last volume, and according to Across Culture.Both textbooks are
combined with Murphy – Essential Grammar In Use (elementary, intermediate level) and with
the book English speaking countries. The teaching system of both textbooks is simirlar to
system of the textbook Click on, but more sophisticated and difficult- more tapescripts, texts
which are quite exacting.
The great motivation for Pavla was her visit of Great Britain (10 days)because she
had the possibility to see life in one English family, to see some English sightseeings and to
be in one English grammar school. Even though she was not enthusiastic about all things of
English mentality and about all things which she saw I tried to explained her that the
negative experience is important for her development, too.
She is interested today in both languages she speaks with. For her would be optimal
now to speak more- also to live somewhere in the English or German speaking countries,
simirlarly I lived in Germany 25 years ago.
My colleague –Mrs.Hauserová uses simirlar methods in Pavla´s teaching according to
which I am used to work at university.( of course less demanding)She leads her pupils to be
able to speak in front of the whole class about some topic- also presentations, what is very
valuable, the pupils get accustomed to argue and presentate their ideas. With presentations
began Pavla during her attendance of the second school year.( there are some samples of
Pavlas presentation in the appendix)The preparation for some presentations is quite
demanding for pupils because they need to know not only good English but also the work
with computer on the good level and they need to be able to work with Internet quite
effectively to gain useful and necessary informations. They have to be able to work with the
graphical programms like Photo scope or IrfanView because a part of their learning is the
work with pictures and their edit. I think this type of work is very good for the pupils because
thy will be good prepared for the following study at universities or for their future life and
probably for work in abroad.
Conclusion
That is my belief, it is not possible to teach every pupil with methods, which I used in
the case of Pavla and Markéta.
What had these two girls and my next successful pupils in common? Why were they
successful? They were very good pupils at school, they came from families where desire to be
successful was very strong and where parents were willing to give money for the good
teaching programme and mainly they were willing to support me and my methods, even
though they can not have always been ethusiatistic about them. The girls were careful in their
preparation and very dilligent.They understood the basic thing -they had to do more than
another their schoolmates if they could be successful. It is almost an ideal state.
Sometimes I speculate about one hypothesis- almost all successful children who I ever
had thaught- came from families where was spoken some foreign languages-English, Russian
or German- or where the ancestor were foreigners-or one of parents was foreigner or spoke
with foreign language on very good level.I think this ability, to learn foreign language much
more easily, must have had a fundament on the genetically base according to my observation,
but it would recquire a good scientifical research with more gifted pupils.
Very important is the personality of teacher in my opinion,too.A teacher who is
interested in new methods and who has possibility, to use every modern good thing in his
teaching of foreign languages, is for the pupil- and mainly for the gifted pupil- very important
and very motivating moment, too.The personality of teacher can contribute to the
development of the pupil or disgust or destroy him.Very important is an individual attitude of
teacher to pupil and his individual work with him. It is the question wheter the teacher in the
standard teaching process has time enough to work with their pupils individually, when he has
about 25 pupils(for languages, 34 for Czech for example like me) in the class and only 45
minutes for all of them?And when pupils´ parents do not want to cooperate with teacher and
“delay“ their children into the school only?And when our politicians, who lead this country,
do not give enough investment in the educational system for its development?Where can we
look for good motivation to change it? Where to find money for changes? I am convinced, the
teaching system in this country is not good generally, it should be much more better and more
sophisticated and all changes would be done in cooperation with teacher who have a lot of
practical experience and understand which things work in practice and which not.
My contemporary work in apprentice training centre is not just edifying because these
pupils really are not interested in their development very often and the attitude to the school is
not positive in their families,too.The cooperation with their parents is in a lot of cases almost
impossible or on the low level. To persuade or motivate them and the pupils for some
reasonable work is almost impossible or arduous, no enviable activity .The pupils are not
well-educated from their families,they do not have basic habits of decorum and fair play
because the families are very often functionless and therefore a lot of pupils have experience
with trials, with detoxiation due to drugs and have a lot of another negative life experience.In
this case I am very skeptical because the pupils, their parents and the teacher have to
cooperate to gain a little presentable results.
I would like to express one idea- the teacher must like his work in order to teach well,
it is necessary for him to enjoy some success or he must have some teaching activity which he
likes, then he can do for his pupils a lot and he can use and look for various kinds of
motivation.
Motivation and her role in teaching
Vypracovala: Miroslava Koclířová
Ročník: IKS – druhý ročník
Rok : 2007/2008
Resources:
Pavla Koclířová, eseje- domácí úkoly: The ballon club
Holiday factfile
Town and country
Friendship- my best friend
Click On1, 2, 1 Workbook, Studentsbook- Evans Virginia, O´Sullivan Neil, Express
Publishing- 1. vydání 2001, Berkshire