The Main Aspects of Motivation in a Business English Classroom

Motivation plays one of the most important roles in a teacher’s pedagogy and students' process of learning. In the classroom both sides have to be motivated, students and teachers likewise. It will make work productive and resultative. So, before we get into the details about how to keep the atmosphere motivated in your classroom, let’s figure out what is ‘motivation’, what types of motivation exist, and what can help us to be motivated and motivate others.

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Iuliia S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

Motivation as a process

Motivation is the process of making oneself and others their activity to achieve a specific goal, or we could also say it’s a general desire or willingness of someone to do something. We also know that there is a positive motivation, which defines a system that values and recognizes the personality, which is also accepted as their own principals, beliefs that help to ‘wake up’ future activity.

Lewis Allen said: “Motivation is the work a manager performs to inspire, encourage, and impel people to take the required action.” So how could we actually develop a motivational atmosphere in the classroom as a teacher? Through the facilitation of a supportive classroom environment, engaging learning experiences, goals settings, and teacher’s enthusiasm, teachers can really empower students to find joy and excitement in their learning. Teachers can empower and move their students through providing a supportive, learning environment, where learning is achievable and supported by both teachers and students.

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Methods of increasing motivation

There are a lot of pedagogical methods that can increase motivation and stimulate students’ activity, and desire to reach their goals. To do that use the variety of student-active teaching activities. As an example, I would like to mention project methodology, which is one of the best ways to stimulate students’ motivation in a classroom. Project methodology stimulates the creative imagination of students, the creative perception of the subject that they are studying, developing, and supporting interest in learning, in research, in generating new ideas and helps them to create their own vision. Therefore, the project methodology is one of the best techniques to generate positive motivation in the classroom, which is the main goal that we have to reach as a teacher.

Another great way to motivate your class is to become a role model for their interest, where you have to display your own enthusiasm and motivation, as your passion will definitely motivate your students. Set realistic goals and help students to achieve them. Also, be free with praise and very constructive criticism, as we know that negative comments have to help the student to pertain to a particular performance, not performer.

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So, in conclusion, I would like to say that motivation is one of the fundamental and current problems nowadays of psychology and pedagogy. It’s a leading factor in regulating an individual’s activity and behavior and we should remember that teachers’ activity is leading in developing that positive motivation that we are trying to reach, as motivated students in your classroom open up a world of possibilities. It’s a fundamental element in students’ learning, which we, as teachers, have to develop, support, and make it happen.

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