Arab World English Journal (July 2013) Theses / Dissertation
Name of researcher: Ohood Suliman S. Al Henaky
Title of the thesis/dissertation: A comparative and evaluative study of motivational techniques used in the second intermediate level EFL classroom in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Subject/major: Master of TESOL
University name, department name: Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, King Saud University , Saudi Arabia
Year of award: January, 2013
Supervisor: Dr. Hind AbdulsAziz Al Fadda, Assistant Professor in Curriculum and Methodology (TESOL)
Abstract:
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which second intermediate EFL teachers in Riyadh use the motivational techniques preferred by their students and if this practice had a significant effect on their achievement in English. The population of this study consists of 33 second intermediate EFL teachers and 65 students, selected from some schools in Riyadh during the academic year 2011-2012. A questionnaire was used to investigate the motivational techniques used by second intermediate EFL teachers and another questionnaire was used to investigate the preferred motivational techniques by second intermediate EFL students. Results showed there was not a significant match between the motivational techniques preferred by second intermediate EFL students and what their teachers really practiced in the English classroom. Results also showed that the more teachers used those motivational techniques, the higher the level of their students’ achievement in English was. Therefore, the researcher recommended that more effort should be made to match students’ motivational techniques with those practiced by their teachers. It was also recommended that students’ perception of motivation techniques should be measured , developed and implemented on an on-going basis or at the beginning and end of the language course. Finally, the researcher hopes to turn the attention of the English teachers to the vital role they play inside the classroom.
Keywords: Keywords: Motivation, Motivation techniques, Preferred motivational techniques, Low-achieving language learners, High -achieving language learners, Degree of practice, Most preferred motivational techniques , Least preferred motivational techniques