Motivational strategies with particular emphasis on writing when teaching English in Norwegian schools

Abstract

The given thesis is a study of motivational strategies used by teachers when teaching English Writing in an upper secondary school in Norway. Writing is an important part of L2 learning, the skill that is complicated and hard to acquire. The ability to express oneself in writing is one of the five basic skills in the Norwegian LK06 English subject curriculum. However, some Norwegian studies (e.g. Lehmann 1999; Nygaard 2010) indicate that Norwegian students’ English writing skills are questionable. Writing skills are mostly acquired at schools so it is important to investigate how English Writing is taught at schools and how to improve pupils’ writing proficiency using motivational techniques and strategies. According to Dörnyei, motivational strategies are methods and techniques used to generate and maintain learners’ motivation (2001: 2). According to Guilloteaux and Dörnyei, the teacher’s use of motivational strategies is generally believed to enhance student motivation, yet the literature has little empirical evidence to support this claim (2008: 55). The data was collected from the questionnaires given to pupils and the interviews with three teachers of English who work in Norwegian schools with pupils from the 8th and 9th grades. The study investigates both pupils’ and teachers’ experiences and attitudes to motivation in English subject and English Writing, which makes the given research useful for further studies in both motivation and teaching Writing in the Norwegian context. The thesis looks into how teachers provide a motivational environment during classes and what pupils consider motivating. The mixed research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, are used in the given research, namely semi-structured interviews with three teachers, and questionnaires answered by 100 pupils. The summarized results of teachers’ interviews showed that the teachers have a more or less similar attitude to motivation, emphasizing its importance in the long process of L2 learning. They tend to use similar motivational strategies during their Writing lessons. However, the teachers did not always use the most beneficial strategies due to the limited amount of time given to teaching Writing in English lessons. The results of the pupils’ questionnaires showed that the majority of the learners are quite motivated in studying the English language and Writing in particular. It is as well possible to conclude that self-motivated pupils who have a genuine interest in L2 learning are more interested in the positive result than the students motivated by teachers, parents or for some other reasons. However, the results as well indicate that the language teachers’ motivational practice is linked to the levels of the learners’ motivated learning behaviour as well as their motivational state. This thesis intends to make a contribution to the research on English Writing teaching in upper secondary schools in Norway with the focus on motivation and to provide insights into the experiences and attitudes of teachers and pupils.