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Approaches to raising students’ motivation in writing in English

 

Senior language students at University require an advanced approach to writing papers. All the basic routine with writing dictations, reproductions, letters and paragraphs has been done within the first years of studying and they can proceed to the next writing level as they have developed their language skills.

 

 Writing is never easy and therefore not one of the most favorite activities of students. It’s obvious that sometimes they are not motivated enough and therefore unwilling to express themselves on paper. One of the most common excuses is inability to write due to the “lack of thoughts and ideas”. It happens often not only because of the lack of ideas but better because of inability to write and express themselves in English effectively.

 

A good essay is always a product of motivated approach, good ideas and rich language skills. Raising students’ motivation is very essential as it stimulates their writing potential. When students are not much involved into themes and topics discussed they do not show any eagerness to share ideas. If the task is given to be done at home, it is a common fact that surfing the Internet sorts out the problem and eases the challenge. Having students emotionally involved leads to the best results as they find inspiration to write good papers.

 

English writing classes usually involve compositions and sometimes commenting on opinions and texts being read during speaking classes.

The list of essays used for TOEFL preparation can be very efficient for teaching writing to senior students. There are also different handbooks, manuals and educational supplies dedicated to analyzing TOEFL essays and they can always see samples of effective and ineffective papers.

 

Applying integrated skills for raising student’s awareness and motivation is essential. Combination of language activities often leads into effective papers. This approach is used today at TOEFL iBT exams. Students are given instructions to listen or read (or both) and then write on the topic summarizing and giving ideas.

 

One of the approaches of raising students’ awareness and motivation in writing can be watching a video in class followed by further discussion with the transition into writing a paper. Students are asked to write a paper summarizing main ideas and giving personal opinion on the point. The goal is to make them write an effective paper in good English using advanced grammar and vocabulary units. In this case finding the right topic can be paramount for emotional stimulation. Today online resources and well-equipped multimedia classes allow great variety of choice and possibilities. On of the examples of a stimulating video sources can be the website TED.com where interesting lectures and speeches given by prominent people can be found. Students usually find them very interesting and show willingness to reflect and discuss. As an example the Brene Brown’s lecture on Vulnerability issues can be offered. She is an American researcher studying human connection. In a poignant, funny talk at TEDxHouston, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. Students found this talk very stimulating and interesting. First, they watched the video and put down main thesis. During the second watch the video was deliberately stopped at the key moments to make it clearer for those who were not aware of the main points discussed. Finally, students were asked to write a paper on the lecture summarizing ideas given and sharing personal opinion on vulnerability issues. As a result, students gave their strong personal insight and seemed to enjoy the task totally.

 

Another idea raising writing motivation implemented at classes was reading aloud short stories by Oscar Wild with further written reflection. It was revealed that students became emotionally involved listening to the story “the Nightingale and the Rose” and demonstrated very strong desire to give their own insight of the story. Having written the paper they read them aloud in class and gave their comment and evaluation. Such a task inspires lots of ideas, stimulates discussion and progress into very productive speaking activity either.   

 

The other means of emotional stimulation in writing can be the following:

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         giving students extracts or passages of the beginning of stories and asking them to continue and then share with class

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         writing a plot for the movie in a group

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         imagining the ending of the story that was read during home reading classes

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         different case studies (finding solutions for problems and issues)

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         project works

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         conducting surveys and further processing of results

-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         developing supplementary materials for home reading classes

 

These tasks and methods were tested and approved their effectiveness during English classes at language departments with the concentration in English.

 

It was revealed that emotional stimulation favors students’ ability to write effectively and increase their motivation in studying. Finding the right topics depends on a particular language group, level of students and their common interests. Ability to work as a team and cooperate is also important and can lead to very positive changes not only in writing and efficiency but also in favorable atmosphere in class.