JAM: Justification, Attitude, Motivation Part 3

This third instalment in the JAM trilogy addresses Motivation, which is the last word in language learning success, if you will pardon the pun. Motivation refers to the learner’s drive to learn the language. In my experience learning a dozen languages (with widely varied degrees of success J ) and teaching and supervising a few thousand students, I have found motivation to be the single most important determinant of success.

Experts tell us that Motivation can be either extrinsic or intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation hinges on external rewards – be it approval, gold stars, high marks or a sports car from Daddy if you pass. (Yes, that is a true example from a student I met. Interestingly, he did not pass and got the car anyway, which explains a great deal!) Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is an inner drive to learn for its own sake. We all have intrinsic motivation, whether it is to master Kung Fu or flop down on the couch: the question is how to foster intrinsic motivation for a worthwhile cause in ourselves and others. Ultimately, intrinsic motivation is the result of disciplined enthusiasm, and needs to be nurtured with care. I would like to contend that intrinsic motivation can be cultivated, and is a function of metacognition.

An important motivation for learning English often transcends the extrinsic/instrinsic distinction: instrumental motivation refers to a drive for practical rewards. In the case of English, many learners see the language as a means to an end of their choosing, whether it is more income, higher learning, immigration or travel. It is perhaps not to the credit of the language learning field that some of the most successful language learners are not in this field at all, but rather in business, academic life, the diplomatic service or evangelism. (The latter two examples demonstrated the greatest mastery of another language I have seen among native speakers of English, who have an abysmal reputation for learning other languages – when they even try in the first place!). Instrumental motivation may offer a gateway from extrinsic motivation to longer-term, intrinsic motivation.

The proverb says that you can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. The language educator’s challenge is to make that horse thirsty. JAM is an acronym for three vital steps in this process: Justification of what is to be learnt, cultivating the right Attitude and fostering a discipline of intrinsic Motivation. We do not have to make the horse drink. We must simply get it to want to drink.