Motivating Dutch Senior Year Secondary Students and Teachers of English as a Foreign Language through Classroom Practice.

Abstract

This master thesis studied the practical implications for creating lesson materials that motivate teachers and students in the EFL classroom in senior years of a Dutch secondary school. The study was conducted at a secondary school in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. Seven teachers and 676 students participated, all teaching and studying in the senior years of havo and vwo. To collect data on what students and teachers find motivating, a questionnaire was presented to the students and teachers in class. Participants were first asked to think of what (de)motivates them about the subject. Then, they were asked to score motivating and demotivating factors, taken from previous research, on a 1 to 6 scale ranging from [very demotivating] to [very motivating]. The mean scores and standard deviations of each value were calculated. After comparing the results of this study to previous research, five general suggestions to improve motivation through classroom practice were made: Communicative tasks and the use of English are the focus of the lesson content; Theoretical knowledge such as grammar and vocabulary are used in support of the communicative tasks but are never the focus of the lesson; Both students and teachers can bring their personal interests into the lesson content, Teachers can collaborate with colleagues from other subjects on assignments; Reflection activities are used to evaluate the lesson content and motivation of students and teachers. Three proposals for lesson activities were presented to show how these suggestions can be implemented in the classroom. This master thesis suggests that it is possible to create lesson materials that are motivating to both students and teachers, and that creativity can be used to turn the five suggestions into various lesson activities.