Past Event

Language Motivational Programmes for Adults and Children

Dr. Michael Magid
(English Language Institute of Singapore)

During my presentation, I will describe two programmes that I developed in order to motivate adult learners of English and children to put more time and effort into learning English by enhancing their vision of their Ideal Second Language (L2) Self and making their goals for learning English more clear and specific. The Ideal L2 Self is a central component of the construct of L2 motivation within Zoltán Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System and is the representation of the L2 attributes that one wishes to possess if one is able to master one’s L2.

During the training programme for adults which consisted of four workshops, I asked my participants to imagine scripted imagery situations to enhance their vision of their Ideal L2 Self. The participants were 31 mainland Chinese students who were studying at a British university. My mixed methods longitudinal study, which lasted four months, employed a series of questionnaires that measured the strength of my participants’ vision of their Ideal L2 Self and three interviews in order to assess each participant’s motivational development.

The main findings were that most of the participants put more time and effort into learning English, their goals for learning English became more clear and specific, the strength of their Ideal L2 Self increased significantly and their imagination improved as a result of the programme. In addition, all of the participants felt more confident in their English due to the programme.

During the motivational programme for children, my participants were 16 grade five students from Singapore. They were separated into a control group and an experimental group who lacked both the motivation to study English and confidence in their English. They also had negative attitudes toward studying English. During this programme, which consisted of eight workshops, I asked the participants in the experimental group to imagine scripted imagery situations to enhance their vision of their Ideal L2 Self. I also helped these participants to develop clear and specific goals and action plans for learning English.

My study, which lasted four months, employed a series of questionnaires and interviews in order to assess the participants’ motivational development. The main findings were that 90% of the participants in the experimental group became more motivated to learn English, more confident in their English and exhibited more positive attitudes toward learning English as a result of the programme. Only 50% of the participants became more motivated, 75% became more confident and 90% improved their attitudes toward learning English in the control group.

About the Presenter

Dr. Michael Magid has worked as an English language pedagogy specialist at the English Language Institute of Singapore for the last three years. He has taught English in Canada, England, Singapore, China and Japan. He graduated from the University of Nottingham and holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics. His publications are in the areas of L2 motivation, sociolinguistics and materials development. Last year, he coedited a book with Kata Csizér entitled The Impact of Self-Concept on Language Learning.