Student take easy route of defiance because they are not mature enough to understand the bigger picture of life and opportunities ahead.

• Show the carrot - benefits that change the status from existing
• Also the stick - Compare the losers who missed the mobility bus.

Dear Malini,

as I wrote to a similar question of yours we try to motivate them with hand working and learning English by the side at about 50 % of time. The other 50 % we do fundamental language "theory" in classroom.

Peter

Student take easy route of defiance because they are not mature enough to understand the bigger picture of life and opportunities ahead.

• Show the carrot - benefits that change the status from existing
• Also the stick - Compare the losers who missed the mobility bus.

English should begin as the mother tongue is being taught in primary school. In Ireland we learn English first because it's our first language despite Irish being the actual first language it is taught in primary 1 or junior infants ages 4 to 5 years by identifying d singular words such as man,woman,baby etc using games and songs however when it comes to foreign or European language learning you start at 12 or 13 learning French and German and after two months pick the one you Like best and normally you learn it up to 18 when you leave to go to college. Some colleges and universities require a continental language along with Irish and English and your 2 other subject choices for entry to their programmes while others don't.  You need to start when they are very young through songs and stories and games it should be taught early to strengthen the interest as later they struggle refuse and cannot see the bigger picture. Here we struggle after the middle exams with the retention of French and German unless the course or college they are looking to go to requires it.

In Sweden, English is literally everywhere since we do not dub media into Swedish except for juveniles. Further, teaching English starts early (1st year, if I remember). We are a small county highly dependent on our export. Finally, in popular culture, we tend to look towards US and United Kingdom. Other languages such as German, French, Italian and Spanish are mandatory from their 6th year. 

To rephrase what Krishnan Umachandran pointed out, motivate the pupils or students, tell them good stories. An example may be to give the pointer to ted.com with their entertaining and educational talks (18 minutes long) about various concepts that can interest them and actually use directly in their lives (sometimes).

There are at least two self-evident reasons:

- English is a language of the science: it's impossible to be a good scientists without English;

- Traveling. Everywhere there are some people who speak English - airports, hotels, etc. With English you are "a citizen of the whole world"; 

I endorse all the above and might add that you can relate the reading and discussion content to their previous readings/experience/societal or global issue to make it interesting for them. The attached is a conference paper on using Social Media to teach students English as a second language that might be of some interest for you:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263767122_Social_Media_in_Education_Bringing_Your_Classroom_to_Life_-_UWI_Research_Expo_2013?ev=prf_pub

Best regards,

Debra

Conference Paper Social Media in Education: Bringing Your Classroom to Life -...

Philadelphia, PA

Dear Ganapathy,

My experience is that people who learn foreign languages are more open to others and they have the motivation to explore what is new and different. I first think to appeal to this openness and curiosity --present the language as a means (and end) of exploration and discovery.  Curiosity about the history and peculiarities of English is one approach. Curiosity about the societies which have English as their first language is another.

The sound system should also be taught as a matter of drills if need be, since this is a considerable difficulty for may students of English. But in general, one may depend on--and draw on--the student's own motivation and intellectual curiosity.

I suppose that not everyone will want to learn a foreign language.

H.G. Callaway

Depends on the age and maturity level of the students. If you can reason with the students, then it's only a matter of showing that English is becoming the lingua franca, in the Internet era.

Otherwise, for young children, you can immerse them in the language. For example, my siblings and I were simply enrolled in an all-English-speaking school. Motivation enough? You either learn quickly, or you are isolated. Same happened with French.

In my opinion, we need to clarify the importance of learning English as a second language for our audiences first. Then, tell them the success stories about using English by others. They need to see the positive results of using English in their life and career. Once they gain benefit, they will definitely try to learn it systematically, otherwise they will see no need to do it. So, I suggest you to define some international projects and ask your students to participate. They will understand how to use and enjoy English.

Motivation is the most effective way to learn English as a second language/foreign language. As for the stick and the carrot method, we should concentrate more on the positive things more than the negative ones. Encouraging students to use English in schools and to watch untranslated movies are essential. 

In my country, young people do not need special motivation to learn English as a foreign language. They understand very well that this language will open for them many new doors to the world, will help them to find friends, to travel and communicate, will allow them to receive an excellent education and to get a good job. Today English is the international  language of science and new technologies. It is completely not possible to study and/or to work in field of biomedicine for example without English.  But in my opinion English is completely not enough today. Young people in Bulgaria learn a second foreign language at school. Most of my students are fluent in English and can speak at least one another foreign language.  

Dear Malini,

It is my experience that "need" encourages students to learn English language and focus more on this interesting language. In the current era which always called globalization era or global village, it is a bare bone essential to know English language in order to connect with other people in different countries.

In this context, English is perhaps better represented as a tool for advancement, rather than as a second language/foreign language. Especially it reaches so many more countries than its nearest rival (122), and has a massive predominance in disseminating research (95% - most of which is produced by non-English speaking countries). If the students don't use this 'tool', then they are likely to a) miss out on lots of information and opportunities, & b) have ethnocentric opinions and perspectives.

In light of the advances we see in global cooperation, communication, interaction etc, English is not a fight against an oppressive force or medium, it is about being able to access and use a wide range of resources that would otherwise remain out of sight and reach. Nobody forces us to do things, but we have to live with the consequences of our decisions.  Anybody remember forcing themselves to sit in front of a computer for the first time ?  I really did not want to have to learn that skill, but when I had to acknowledge its potential benefit (& what I would otherwise miss out on), I pushed myself to learn.  The only legitimate reason for not adopting something is if there is a provenly better alternative ...

Hi Malini,

This is indeed a difficult question especially in the Malaysian context. Let me share my experience. I teach students at a private institution with a student ratio of 98% Malay students. They are all Diploma and Degree level students. For many of them, their level of proficiency is below average. I also noticed that many also had very low self confidence to learn English although it is not new to them. Moreover, our teaching methods also needs to constantly change as students nowadays are exposed to modern technology and can be very demanding with high expectations of their classes. These are some things that I did to encourage them to enjoy English, motivate them and change their perspective.

•  I always have public speaking activities/ group debates in class so that everyone is given equal opportunity to speak. I normally select simple topics and allocate only 1 or 2 minutes. I then comment on their plus points, get their friends to applaud and then emphasize the weak points. Outcome : After 3/4 weeks my students are more outspoken. (if you have a large class, you can do it in groups or get them to record their speeches and upload it onto their e-learning sites)
• I always include fun games and activities after my lessons or in between when I feel they look tired. (try to have an element of surprise and avoid the same type of activities as they will easily get bored)
• use LOTS of e-learning sites where they can have competitions and races. (Pls try KAHOOT, Socrative, Padlet and there are many more) - requires the use of mobile phones / internet connection
• After their mid-semester break (normally in week 8) i get ALL my students to write short anonymous letters to me IN ENGLISH, to comment on my teaching as well as provide suggestions on how the lesson can be improved or their expectation from my classes. I read them and try to implement those changes.
• Allow the students to organize at least 1 activity during each semester that promotes the use of English either inside/outside uni (my students have organized debates, public speaking competitions, exploraces, visits to orphanages and many more) - i guide them towards the planning and leave them to decide on the activities and all.
• I provide each student with a task to do so that they feel important.
• I share lots of interesting information with my students apart from what is in the course outline. this motivates the students to openly discuss issues that interest them.
• Use PBL once in a while (provide current/ real-life situations and get them to find a solution to those problems.
• Modify their assignments to make them more appealing to the students and share the rubrics with them prior to submission (this would help them see what we want from their work)

These are some ideas that i have implemented and my students seem to enjoy the lessons more and are improving. I hope they are helpful to you. It might not cater to ALL the students, but majority find it interesting.

All the best & sorry for the long message

Visha

I observed it worked with school students to follow either of the following:

1. Giving students higher marks based on their performance in non-exam activities like short conversations, and memorizing vocabulary.

2. Responding to students' questions, requests and demands easily if they ask in English. For instance, allowing them to move inside the classroom for some reason if they ask the permission in English. Another example is to allow them to avoid what they used to be obliged to do when they ask for that in English.

I hope my ideas have some kind of usefulness.

Best Regards

According to my experience in teaching, the best way to motivate students in learning is to make them participate in the lesson by using “pair work” or “Group work” appropriately, especially when the teacher is resourceful and skillful enough, to motivate his/her students. Language is best learned through the close collaboration and communication among students. In fact, learners can help each other while working on different types of tasks such as writing dialogues, interviews, drawing pictures and making comments about them, play roles, etc…

Best Regards

Ahmed Mater

Relate the content to their prior reading/experiences/local or global issue.

Best regards,

Debra

Hello!

In my country, until recently, the teaching of English in the fundamental cycle was very incipient. Many parents, like me, end up paying foreign language courses in private schools (Fisk and others).

The speech that we should all know a second language has never been very motivating and only now begins to gain value, since many young people want to study and live outside Brazil.

Greetings!

How can we motivate students to learn English as a second language/foreign language?

One of the methods include getting the students to know the importance of ESL/EFL.  E.g during vacation time, if possible bring them to visit foreign countries like UK, Australia, Singapore or other English speaking countries so that they recognize the importance to master English language that can help them in future travel, study, working abroad or working in international companies etc.

If you have basic competences in English (let's say from school) , relevant and significant communication with people who are important (socially, personally, professionally etc) for you will make all the change happen. It is more important than formal teaching of English as a scientific language.

Thanks Charles. Any experience in particular you would like to share ?

I think that the study of English nears us to a different culture. I do not understand why is there less attention for learning other laguages, specially of native English people.

English is undeniably the lingua franca and is a global language of technology.